Fire and Water: Book 1
by PhantomXAngel
Summary: Sienna is cousin of Sokka and Katara. During her stay at the Southern Water Tribe they get a visit from Prince Zuko, what happened in Sienna's past that shes trying to conceal? ZukoXOC Please Review! RATING CHANGED TO M!
1. Chapter 1: The Southern Water Tribe

**Hello! :] This is my first Avatar fanfiction, so please try to be nice with the comments. I'm going to try to write everything as accurately as I can but I can't make any promises. I've been planning out this story for a LONG time, but I've never actually put it onto paper. It's exciting to finally begin to write it out. Please rate and review, I hope to get as much input from readers as I can. I actually came across the name Siena in a movie; it was the name of a town. I decided to change it just a little to Sienna. Love the name, its Australian. :]**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Avatar, only my OC character Sienna along with any others you may not recognize. **

_Water... Earth... Fire... Air... ___

_My grandmother used to tell me stories about the old days, a time of peace when the Avatar kept balance between the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads. But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. ___

_Only the Avatar mastered all four elements. Only he could stop the ruthless firebenders. But when the world needed him most, he vanished. ___

_A hundred years have passed and the Fire Nation is nearing victory in the war. Two years ago, my father and the men of my tribe journeyed to the Earth Kingdom to help fight against the Fire Nation, leaving me and my brother to look after our tribe. ___

_Some people believe that the Avatar was never reborn into the Air Nomads and that the cycle is broken, but I haven't lost hope. I still believe that somehow the Avatar will return to save the world._

I've been in the Southern Water Tribe for only a few days and it felt great being among my family again. It's been a very long time since I've seen my cousins Katara and Sokka or my Grandmother. I was disappointed that my uncle wasn't here, but he's off in the war so I understood. Things have changed a lot since the last time I visited. The men are gone and the village is a lot less lively. Everyone is so serious about the war and training to be warriors. I thought about if I ever had a child, I would do anything to protect them from the war. I was angry at Sokka for trying to train the children to become fighters, what if they got killed? I pushed the anger from my mind and finished helping Gram with the breakfast of the morning for the entire tribe. That's another part I loved about the Southern Water Tribe, everyone looked out for everyone.

Katara and Sokka brought back a strange boy last night after their fishing trip on an even stranger creature. I admit, I was fascinated by the boy and his animal but since he was asleep I wouldn't bother him. There was something about him that was spiritual, I could sense it. The arrow on his head was strange, I didn't recognize it from any of the places I'd been.

"Sienna-" I heard my younger cousin shout from outside the ice tent I was in. "-come meet Aang!" I smiled before running out of the igloo and out into the bare harsh weather they lived in. Stepping into the crowd of villagers I had became acquainted with over the past few days I looked at the boy that my cousin was with closer. Yeah, he was defiantly weird looking.

"Aang, this is the entire village. Entire village, Aang." Katara introduced the boy as he bowed to us all. I noticed how some of the villagers, actually most of them, backed away from the stranger.

"Uh... why are they all looking at me like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?" The boy began looking at himself to see if there was anything on him. My grandmother stepped forward towards the boy, and I along with her.

"Well, no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years." She informed him as I took her arm. I always worried so much about my gram. "We thought they were extinct until my granddaughter and grandson found you."

"Extinct?" I saw the devastation and confusion on the boy's face as he thought about his people.

"Aang, this is my grandmother and my cousin Sienna." Katara told Aang with a smile.

"Call my Gran Gran."

"It's an honor to meet you, Aang." I smiled at the bald boy. The rest of the conversation I zoned out on, I tend to do that a lot. This boy was an airbender, but they haven't been seen in a hundred years. He couldn't be… I shook my head at a stupid thought. There was no way this kid could be the avatar, someone who disappeared over a hundred years ago.

"Sienna?" Sokka questioned, waving his hand across my face. Blinking a few times, I snapped out of my daze and blushed.

"Shut up Sokka."

A little while later I watched Sokka training some young boys how to fight. It made me sad and scared at the same time. These kids would have to grow up and fight for their lives, some of them wouldn't make it. The thought of losing a child was something I couldn't even begin to comprehend. These mothers, these wives would lose husbands or bothers or children to this awful war, and what could I do? What could any of us do but wait for us to be next?

Hearing an explosion I looked to the sky and saw a flare shoot up to the sky. My breath caught in my throat, remembering the stories Katara told me about booby-traps the fire nation set up around the area. What if someone saw it? Everyone could be in danger.

Sokka kept pacing, and it took everything in me not to smack him and tell him to stop. We waited, and waited, and waited until Aang and Katara finally got back. Relief immediately washed over me as I ran to my cousin and embraced her and Aang. Thank goodness they were safe.

"I knew it! You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?" Sokka accused, pointing his finger at Aang. My nostrils flared in anger as I stared at him. Was he really serious?

"Aang didn't do anything. It was an accident." Katara defended herself and Aang.

"Yeah, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap and well…" Aang put his hand on his head, as if thinking of what to say. "…we boobied right into it."

Gran Gran stepped forward, shaking her head in disappointment at the children. "Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship. Now we could all be in danger!" I couldn't help but agree with Gram, Katara should have known better than to go there.

"Don't blame Katara! I brought her there." He looked down guiltily. "It's my fault."

"Aha! The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy!" Sokka herded the children away from Aang and I felt pity for the airbender. "The foreigner is banned from our village!"

"Stop it Sokka." I stepped forward, finally saying something. "Aang hasn't been a threat to our village and he isn't trying to signal the fire nation!" I could feel my anger rising, which was something that didn't happen often but I hate it when people try to blame others for things that are out of control. "If anything it's Katara's fault. She knew not to go there and she did anyway."

"It's not my fault!" She shouted at me, her face twisting up in anger. "What would you know anyway? You weren't here when the fire nation invaded our home, you don't even belong here!" Ouch, man when did Katara get so cold?

"Katara you went too far!" Sokka yelled back at her. I was thankful that he defended me but I didn't want to cause more of an argument. "Apologize to Sienna, **now**."

"Enough!" Gram scolded, causing all three of us to shut up and look at her. I had never heard Gram yell, let alone at us. "Stop acting like children, you're all going to be adults in a few years and I suggest you begin acting like it. Katara, apologize to Sienna and Sienna apologize to Katara."

"I'm sorry Katara." My head lowered in shame for what I said to my cousin. "It was an accident and I shouldn't have blamed you for what happened." Holding my breath I looked up to see her face… not even looking at me. Her head was turned to the side and she was staring out at the ocean.

"If Aang is banished then I'm banished too!" Katara shouted suddenly, grabbing the airbender's shoulder and dragged him away from us. "C'mon, Aang, let's go!"

Both Sokka and I took a step towards Katara, but Sokka was the one to speak first. "Where do you think you're going?" He pointed at his younger sister as she neared the airbender's bison.

"To find a waterbender!" she growled hotly. "Aang is taking me to the North Pole!"

Aang looked at her, first confused but then his expression brightened. "I am? Great!"

"Katara!" Sokka shouted at his sister in disbelief. She stopped walking to listen to her older brother. "Would you really choose him over your tribe, your own family?" I could sense the doubt as she stood there obviously unsure what to do. Aang walked up beside her with a guilty look on his face.

"Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family." I knew he was a good kid and that just convinced me beyond a doubt he was. The airbender turned towards his bison, his expression sullen. "It was nice meeting everyone."

"Let's see your bison fly now, air boy." I smacked Sokka for being so mean to the boy. He looked at me with a bewildered expression and rubbed his shoulder sorely. "That hurt" he muttered lowly to me.

"Come on, Appa, you can do it!" he encouraged the bison. "Yip! Yip!" The animal grumbled loudly and got to its feet and began to walk off. I smiled at the boy as he exited the outskirts of the village.

"Yeah, I thought so." I rolled my eyes at my older cousin and turned around to continue with my chores.

"You happy now? There goes my one chance of becoming a waterbender!" I heard Katara snap at our Gram, causing my blood boil. How dare Katara speak to her like that?

"Shut up Katara." I snarled, walking back towards her. "Don't be angry at Gram because you and Aang got into trouble, it's _your_ fault. Take some responsibility for once. I told you I would teach you waterbending but you won't learn from me." I could see the anger in her eyes as she opened her mouth to speak again, but I cut her off. "You don't have an excuse just because your mother died, that you're the only one who's suffered. Wake up Katara, the whole worlds been suffering long before we were here." I turned and heeled off towards one of the huts to finish weaving the basket I would use to store fresh fish in.

I sat weaving for awhile, almost completing my basket until I heard a scream and I immediately dropped what I was doing. Standing up I lifted my hand to move away the pelt that covered the doorway when an enormous tremor shook the ground and I nearly fell over. I ran outside just in time to see Sokka standing on the "tower" that he built out of snow. A huge ship was coming right at him and he wasn't moving.

"Sokka, get out of the way!" Katara yelled.

"Run you idiot!" I screamed at him in horror. The ship reached the wall and barged though, pushing the snow and ice back towards the village in a big heap. Steam came up where the ship had broken through the ice. Sokka looked up at the massive ship and drew a large breath. I took a step forward, probably being the only one who could put up a decent fight against the invaders.

With a loud noise the bowsprit of the ship opened and fell down onto the snow below it, nearly crushing Sokka like an ant. A thick layer of smoke which had collect at the top began to disperse and you could see the group of fire nation soldiers coming down the slope.

Sokka, who I dearly love but sometimes lacks common sense, hops up and charges at the firebenders with a loud war cry. The leader merely kicks Sokka's weapon from his hands and kicks him in the face, sending him sprawling into the ice planks onto the right of them. He kept walking towards the group of villagers who stood behind me. My black bangs blew in my eyes and I threw my braded pony tail across my shoulder and it fell down my chest. My deep, royal blue eyes were on high alert as the firebenders got closer.

"Get out of here." I snarled, holding my hands up and getting into a traditional waterbender stance. I watched as the leader lit up his hand and threw the fire at me. As the village gasped in horror I lifted some snow and melted it into water, easily getting rid of the fire. To my surprise the boy, who couldn't be much older than me, smirked.

If he wanted a fight, I'd give him a fight.

**A/N: Well that's it for now, tell me what you think! Hopefully I can get the next chapter out soon, but I've been so busy with work and other stuff that we'll have to see. Thanks so much for reading! Remember, R&R please please please! **


	2. Chapter 2: Old Friends

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**Hey guys! I'm back again with another new chapter :] Thanks to anyone who reviewed on my story! It really encourages me and helps me with what I need to do better. **

**EWW! It's like 1 in the morning and I'm sitting in my living room in the complete pitch black when this HUGE bug lands on my screen. It was giant! I totally freaked out and threw my laptop. Thankfully it didn't break, I got lucky. **

**Is anyone else disgusted with the choice of Zuko for the Avatar movie? Why would you pick an Indian person? If it were me I would have chosen some really cute Asian guy! :]**

**Currently listening to: Endless Love by Jackie Chan and Kim Hee Sun from 'The Myth'**

_"Sienna, come inside! You're going to catch a cold!" My mother scolded. I looked up to her with my steel blue and smiled. _

"_But Mom, I'm not done with my snowman yet!" I whined back, smoothing the snow down on the head of the snowman. "I'm going to name him Zuko!" Triumphantly I smiled at my lame creativity. _

_Exasperated, my mother shook her head with a small smile on her face. "I know you miss Zuko and I'm sorry you had to leave him, but we need to start a new life here. I grew up among the water benders and I'm sure you'll like it too. Besides, I thought you wanted to learn healing and you wanted to become a better waterbender." She questioned me. I hate it that she's always right. _

"_None of the other kids like me mom." I frowned, tugging on my black braid that went down my shoulder, across my chest and hung by my stomach. I always wore my hair the same way ever since I could remember with the exact same red ribbon Zuko had given me the day we first met. My skin was an olive color, not as pale as the people of the fire nation and yet not as tan as the people of the water tribes. I was somewhere in the middle. My almond shaped blue eyes had always stood out, not as bright as most waterbenders because they had more gray in them. I wasn't extremely skinny like a lot of other girls my age but I wasn't chubby either. I guess I was just average size for a girl. Either way, living in the Water Tribe or the Fire Nation, I always stood out. _

"_Baby your only 11 years old; you have plenty of time to make friends." My mother always found a way to make me feel better. She was always one of my best friends like Zuko and nothing would ever change that. Little did I know, she would be gone out of my life forever in just 2 years from that day. _

I got ready to fight this guy, putting my hands up in a defensive position. Behind the boy I saw Sokka get up and grab his knife to charge once again at the teenage firebender with another war cry. The firebender turned in annoyance and flipped Sokka over his head, sending him crashing down at the snow behind him. I almost laughed at Sokka's sad attempts at attacking the firebenders. The boy blasted a fairly large fireball at Sokka, who thankfully rolled away before he got scorched. Sokka reached to his side and heaved his boomerang straight at the firebender's head. The teen moved away just barely in time and looked at where it was flying to, obviously surprised. He turned back, his face twisted in anger and glared at Sokka.

One of the little boys Sokka had been training grabbed a spear and threw it to Sokka calling out, "Show no fear!" I smiled at the young boy's bravery. Sokka caught the spear with ease and turned to charge at the leader of the group of invaders. The teen easily broke off the head of the spear and bonks Sokka in the head with the shaft several times. He proceeds to break it in half again and drops the pieces on the ground. Sokka, after getting bonked on the head, sank to the ground, rubbing his head. He moved and stood over Sokka apparently ready to attack him again. Thinking quickly, I turn the snow below Sokka into ice and slide him over by the rest of the tribe and out of harm's way. A gleam in the sky catches my attention as the angry firebender looks at me. Smirking, I watch as he takes a step towards me when Sokka's boomerang slams him in the back of the head and knocks his helmet straight off. Slowly, my mind registers whose face I'm staring at.

_Zuko…_ I couldn't believe it was him, after all this time. He lit his hands up in a dagger looking fire style and took a few steps towards me [[A/N: The bug incident happened right here.]] I started at him, unmoving as he got only a foot or two from where I stood. He looked so… different. His face had grown up more, that's for sure. He was much taller than he used to be, his hair style was much the same as it used to be. I slapped myself mentally for not recognizing his voice when he first spoke.

In my daze he had moved past me, asking about the Avatar to the rest of the villagers. I had a sneaking suspicion that Aang was the Avatar, and Zuko just confirmed it. He grabbed Gram, causing me to snap back to reality. Roughly, I reached for the arm that held out my grandmother and shoved it back towards him, my eyes intense. I was very protective of my grandmother.

"Filthy peasant!" he growled, obviously not recognizing me. Normally I didn't like using my waterbending for battle, I more enjoyed healing others but I guess in this case I had no choice. I would protect my grandmother and cousins with everything I had. Raising my hands I brought up the patch of snow that Zuko stood on and turned it from snow, to water and finally to ice. It clung to his body and immobilized him for only a matter of seconds but that was all the time I needed. Skillfully I brought up several spikes of ice and shot them with all my force at him. He quickly melted the ice and shattered it, ducking away from my attacks. He sent a few shots of fire at me but I easily got away from those. Thoughts and memories ran through my head of when Zuko and I were kids…

"_Azula always lies, Azula always lies." I heard my best friend muttering, his face buried in his arms as he huddled up against a tree in the courtyard beside the pond his mother and him always sit by. I frowned, hating it when he was upset like this. _

"_What's wrong Zuko? What did Azula do this time?" I questioned, sitting down beside him. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and my heart dropped down to my stomach. I put my arms around him and hugged him comfortingly, secretly plotting how I would get her back for hurting him. _

"_Azula told me that you and I aren't allowed to be friends and you're our enemy." He looked at me with his amber eyes and I frowned, where did she get an idea like that?_

"_Azula is a liar Zuko, how many times do I have to tell you that?" I smiled at him brightly, not understanding what upset him so much. "You're my best friend and no one can tell us that we can't be friends. Don't you trust me?" He nodded. _

Distracted, he sent me flying through the air and towards the ship. I landed roughly on the ground as I looked up to him with sad eyes wondering what happened to him that made him so cruel. He was never like this as a child. Two of his guards grabbed onto me roughly and dragged me to my feet.

"What should we do with her, sir?" They asked, they're voices slightly muffled by their helmets. I stared down at the ground trying to calm my nerves. If they got me on their ship, what would they do to me? Zuko obviously isn't the same as he used to be. I heard a few footsteps towards me but I didn't look up, instead I kept my attention towards the snow-covered terrain.

"Take her on the ship." He ordered coldly. Looking up I stared at Katara, who did nothing but stare at us. My grandmother, however, looked worried about me. I smiled at her, reassuring that I would be alright. The men turned me around and took me towards the ship and I did nothing to stop them. I wondered if I would be brought to the fire nation.

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"General Iroh-"one of the guards stated as I was brought into another room of the ship. "-what should we do with the prisoner?" I stared at Iroh who I had known since I was born. What would he do with me? Was he still the same person he had been or had he changed a lot like Zuko?

"Release her and let me talk to her" he ordered monotone. "alone." I gulped slightly, not liking the sound of what was going on. The guards released my cuffs and pushed me forward, causing me to fall onto my knees. They left the room and shut the door with a 'clank.' I placed my forehead to the floor and bowed in respect for the great fire bender standing before me.

"General Iroh, it's an honor to see you again." I could hear him take a few steps towards me. Lifting my head up to look, I saw a smile on his face. Gracefully he bowed to me.

"It's good to see you again, Sienna. You've grown up so much." I smiled, getting to my feet. His eyes were soft and kind just as I remembered them causing relief to flood over me. He hadn't changed a bit. "What are you doing here?"

"I'll tell you over a nice cup of Jasmine tea." He laughed, knowing well that it was going to be an interesting story just as all my others had been.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! Remember, review= quicker updates so please review on what you thought. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter out soon! Thanks! :]**

**~Sarah**


	3. Chapter 3: The Avatar's Escape

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and/or read my story! It really means a lot to me. Well, here's chapter 3, I've been putting a lot of time, energy and thought into this story so far and I'm really excited to show where it's going. Please don't expect updates this often, I've just had a few days off work so I've had more spare time than usual. Hopefully I can update my story at least once every few days if possible. Just try to be patient with me. :]**

Iroh and I sat at a small table in his quarters, a pot and two cups of jasmine tea in front of us. He was the same as he was when he came back from the war, a kind humble old man. "Well-"I started thoughtfully, "- after I left the fire nation my mother and I moved back to the Northern Water Tribe, where she grew up. We didn't really fit in; a lot of the tribe members didn't really trust us anymore for obvious reasons. We only stayed there for about 3 years before she was killed." I felt my heart sink thinking of my mother. She was a great woman, far greater than I could ever hope to be. I was still childish, quick tempered and selfish. She was someone who always put me first even if it was hard for her, she understood me when I didn't understand myself and she always let me make my own decisions and respected them no matter how much she didn't understand. I hoped to be half the woman she was.

"I'm sorry about your loss; your mother was a wonderful person." Iroh's voice was filled with sympathy. He and my mother were very close as they enjoyed many of the same customs and activities; it was almost as if he was a father figure to her.

"She was," I agreed. "and she had the biggest heart out of anyone I know."

"You remind me much of her." Iroh stated, lifting the steaming cup to his lips and taking a greedy drink of his favorite tea. I shook my head with a small smile on my face in doubt of what he said.

"I don't think so."

"Maybe you'll see that someday." Uncle told me as he set his white tea cup with painted leaves on it down onto the small table we sat at. Lifting my cup, I took a small sip of the tea to make sure it wasn't going to burn my lips. It was the perfect temperature, so I sipped again before setting the cup back down. I knew the ship was moving, I could tell by the way the tea in my cup moved slowly. I wondered if I would be taken to the fire nation and what would become of me. I was technically a citizen, so they couldn't enslave me. But I could be considered a traitor for attacking the prince.

We heard a loud clank from somewhere outside the door. Startled, I stood up and eyed the door before looking at Iroh. He nodded, somehow knowing what I wanted before I whispered a small 'thank you' and hurried out the door, almost having to throw myself through in order to open it completely. Outside in the hallway it was dim and dark, hard to see what was going on. There was a door down the hall, which was closed, and loud turmoil was coming from. Suddenly, the door flew open then closed just as quickly. Aang was standing outside it!

"Sienna?" He questioned, running towards me, his glider was in his hands.

"What are you doing here Aang?" I asked almost panicked. I knew if the fire lord got his hands on Aang the world was in a whole lot of trouble. Before I could question what happened he grabbed my hand and began dragging me down the dark hallways and towards to surface where he could fly. We ran from hallway to hallway and after a few minutes of running aimlessly I silently wondered if Aang actually knew where he was going. As we turned down yet another corridor I could smell the fresh air and see the light at the end, finally! Closer and closer we got until finally we were outside and Aang turned to me, his eyes wild.

"I'm going to get us out of here, but you have to hold on tight." He warned me, unfolding his glider. I paused for a moment, hesitating.

"I can't Aang." I told him softly. He looked at me confused, his body's muscles relaxing slightly.

"What do you mean? Why?" He questioned.

"I can't really explain it, I just feel like I'm needed here, like I'm supposed to travel with Zuko and Iroh." It was hard for me to explain what this feeling was inside me, but I just knew that it was my destiny to help Zuko.

"I guess if that's what you want." He hesitated, putting his glider onto his shoulders in preparation to take off. "Just be careful."

"I will Aang, take care of Katara and Sokka for me. Tell them both I love them and I'll see them soon." He nodded and ran towards the cliff and jumped onto his glider. I turned to head towards the door when Zuko ran past me, jumping off the edge of the boat and grabbing one of Aang's ankles and pulling him down to the ship below.

I stood, staring in amazement as the two crashed onto the hard metal surface of the ship. Aang turns back around and looks up to the sky behind him and smiled brightly. Zuko looks to see what he's staring at and stops in his tracks.

"What is that?" He asked himself in wonder.

"Appa!" Aang shouted happily. Zuko took the opportunity to try and catch Aang off guard by sending a blast of fire at him. Aang shot a blast of air back, completely dispersing the ball of fire. Twirling his staff over his head, Aang attempts to helicopter off the boat but lands on the very edge and nearly falls overboard. Zuko shoots 3 more powerful blasts of fire at him before Aang drops his staff. With a few more blows, Zuko knocks Aang off the edge and he falls into the water below. I gasped in horror as I saw Aang fall and I hear Katara scream his name a few times.

Unexpectedly, Aang emerges from the water, his eyes and arrow tattoos glowing and he's at the top of a huge water tornado. The sight was frightening; Aang landed on the ship and was surrounded by Zuko and his guards. He bended up some water and created a circle, pushing all the men off the side of the ship. Aang lands wobbly on his knees after expending so much energy and the light in his tattoos and eyes begin to fade out. Appa lands on the ship and both my cousins jump off, rushing towards Aang as he falls forwards onto the metal.

"Aang! Are you okay?" Katara shouts worriedly bending down and reaching for Aang to lift him up so he can sit.

"Hey Katara. Hey Sokka. Thanks for coming." He muttered weakly.

"Well, I couldn't let you have all the glory." Typical Sokka, always trying to crack a joke.

Aang looks over to Sokka before he stated with a little more voice than last time. "I dropped my staff."

"Got it!" Sokka yelled, running over to the side of the ship where Aang dropped his staff and lifted it up. His eyes and mine widen as I see Zuko clutching the other end, reaching up to pull himself back onto the ship. Sokka tries to pull the staff up and pry Zuko off but no luck, so instead he bonks Zuko in the head roughly a few times until he finally releases the staff. Yeah, paybacks a bitch Zuko.

"Ha! That's from the Water Tribe!" I giggled, cheering in my head for Sokka's small victory over Zuko.

Appa stood up, shaking off some water as a few more guards got up after being knocked down and almost off the boat by Aang before. They made their way over to Katara, Appa, Aang and Sokka and prepared for combat. Katara picked up a stream of water and the guards hesitated in fear. Closing her eyes, instead of attacking the guards she froze some water to the deck including Sokka's feet to the deck floor. "Katara!" he shouted angrily, hacking at his feet with his boomerang in order to free himself. The soldiers begin to walk towards Katara and she turns around, closing her eyes again and repeating herself freezing the water on the deck. Glancing back she saw she froze the soldiers where they stood. Katara hopped onto Appa's back and yelled, "Hurry up, Sokka!"

"I'm just a guy with a boomerang; I didn't ask for all this flying and magic." Sokka muttered to himself, chipping away at the final chunk of ice and freeing himself. He jumps up on Appa's tail yelling, "Yip yip! Yip yip!" Appa pushes his tail up and they take off. Uncle emerged from a door at the bottom of the ship, rubbing his eyes pretending he just woke up from a nap. I knew in that moment he didn't want Zuko to catch the Avatar as much as I did. Why else wouldn't he have came up here to help?

I jumped down from my perch as Iroh helped Zuko back onto the deck. The young firebender looked up to the bison in the sky and shouted, "Shoot them down!" Together, Iroh and Zuko got into a stance and shot a large fireball into the sky right at the bison. Aang saw it and shot a huge gust of air at it and redirected it at a large glacier of ice and it hit hard. Large portions broke off and crashed down onto the ship, burying enough that the ship wouldn't move. I looked up at the kid in amazement, he was a powerful bender.

"Good news for the Fire Lord. The nation's greatest threat is just a little kid." Iroh tried to lighten the mood and make the best out of the situation like he always did. I walked over towards them, my face somber.

"That kid, Uncle, just did this." Zuko motions around him to the ship that was half buried in ice and snow. "I won't underestimate him again. Dig this ship out and follow them!" He looked to his soldiers who were trying to unthaw the others who were frozen by Katara. "As soon as you're done with that." He added.

I laughed lightly at the firebenders sad attempts to free the soldiers, so I unfroze the water for them. The men who had been frozen coughed loudly and fell to the ground. Unfortunately, a very cranky Zuko's attention was now turned on me.

"Where are they headed!" he snarled, taking an aggressive step towards me. Scared, I took a step away.

"I don't know." I said softly, backing up a little more. I hate it when firebenders are pissed off.

"I know you know so tell us where they're headed!" He yelled, his hands filling with fire.

"That's enough, Prince Zuko." Iroh started, putting a hand on Zuko's shoulder. Enraged, Zuko sent a blast of fire at me and turned towards his uncle, pushing his hand roughly off him.

Taken by surprise, the fire came at me and I had no time to deflect it with any water. I screamed as the fire hit me square in the stomach, burning through my clothes and tearing away my flesh that was tremendously painful.

"Sienna!" Iroh shouted, pushing past Zuko and running towards me. The last thing I saw was the shock on Zuko's face before my world went black. 

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading! Please make sure you review so I'm happy and chapters come out faster. Speaking of chapters, I'll try to have the next one out as soon as I can. I'm looking forward to where this is going, so stay tuned! :]**

**~Sarah**


	4. Chapter 4: Commander Zhao

**Hey hey everybody! Thanks so much to everyone who updated, read or added this story or me to their favorites or alerts. Urgh, my cell phones fucked up right now so I'm kinda pissy, wont have much time to write today so I might not update tomorrow cause I'm working a split shift at work today. Hopefully I find the time though. I'm really pleased with the turnout of people who are reading it. Here's another update, I hope you like this!**

I woke up groggily, my vision blurry and unclear. Blinking several times the shapes around me became clearer and focused. I was lying in a room on the ship that seemed familiar. There were candles lit on the far side of the wall, a fire nation flag on the wall to my right and on the left was the door. The bed I was laying on was spacious and comfortable. A blanket was draped over me that was made of some kind of black skin. Trying to sit up a heavy pain pulsed through my stomach and veins. The memories of what had happened came back to me like a rhino slamming into me full force. Zuko attacked me, he burned me. I lay down on my back as I felt tears flood my eyes. He really had changed so much. The old Zuko I had known wouldn't have ever hurt me, in fact he had sworn to protect me when we were younger. He promised he'd always be there for me no matter what. What a lie that was.

"Sienna?" I recognized the voice outside the door as Iroh's. There was a soft knock and the knob on the door twisted slowly and it opened. Iroh poked his head in with a cheeky smile. "I just came to see if you were okay and I brought you some water to drink." I smiled kindly at him and attempted to sit up again.

"Please come in." I said slowly, trying not to show any pain in my voice. Once again I failed to sit up; the pain in my stomach was too much. Quickly, Iroh brought in a glass and pitcher of water and set it on the table next to my bed. He put his arm around the small of my back and helped lift me up so I could sit up to drink. As he poured me a glass of water I wondered where Zuko was and what he was doing. It'd been so long since I last saw him.

"How are you feeling?" He asked me tenderly, handing me a full glass of water. I took it from him with a quiet 'thank you' and quickly gulped down half the glass.

"I'm doing alright." My voice sounded weak and distant to me. Still holding the half full glass I pushed my blanket back, surprised I wasn't wearing my waterbender clothes anymore but a baggy fire nation shirt. I lifted the shirt to reveal a nasty looking burn. Concentrating I lifted the rest of the water out of the cup and bended it around my hand which began to glow. I placed it onto my burn, wincing at how much it hurt before I began to heal myself. Healing a burn from a firebender was harder than it looked and took a lot of energy from someone who had little experience like I did. As soon as I closed the wound it only left a jagged scar on my stomach just below the belly button. I pulled back down my shirt, feeling tired again.

"I'm sorry Iroh, but healing takes a lot of energy out of me. Do you mind if I go back to sleep for a bit?" I asked politely. Iroh smiled and laughed lightly.

"You don't need to ask, I was just going to leave. I'll be back to check on you later, feel better." He told me with a smile, getting up off the side of the bed to leave. I nodded, laying back down and pulling the blanket over my shoulders to keep the cold Artic air away from my body as I drifted back off into a peaceful, painless sleep.

A jolt in the ship caused me to stir from my sleep. The ship had stopped for some reason and I wanted to know why. Slowly, I untucked myself from the warmness of the blanket and sat up with no issues this time. I placed my bare feet onto the cold metal floor and stood up. My body wobbled slightly before making my way towards the door, opening it slowly. No one was in the hallway, so I walked thorough until the end came and I turned right, heading for the door that lead outside. 'How long was I out?' I wondered as I reached for the handle of the door and twisted it open with a loud 'clank' sound. The light that flooded into the doorway was overwhelming compared to the darkness I had just been in and it caused me to squint.

We were at a port, a fire nation port. I could feel my heart sinking, wondering if Zuko was planning on turning me over to someone else. I could see him and Iroh arguing just a short distance away over something I couldn't hear. The conversation looked intense and I could see Zuko getting angrier and angrier. Fearing he would lose his temper like he had with me I walked over and put my hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly to try and calm them. Startled, he turned his head sharply and looked at me with wild eyes. I could tell he was angry but as he saw me the hardness in his eyes melted away into a soft liquid.

"Fine." He grumbled at Iroh, turning and walking off away from Iroh and myself. Confused, I glanced back at Iroh who was only smiling.

"I knew it was good that Zuko brought you onboard, probably one of the smartest decisions he's made in years." He laughed heartily, placing one of his hands on his belly. I couldn't help but giggle softly, agreeing with him in my head. I wasn't sure what happened to Zuko since I had left 4 years ago but I wanted to find out.

"Why did we land Iroh?" I questioned. He looked at me with grave eyes.

"Our ship is damaged too much, we have to land and make repairs and this was the closest, friendly port to fire nation ships." He explained, thinking carefully. "There's something else you should know." He paused, making me worry about what was going on. "Zhao is here." I could feel my brow furrow as I thought about Zhao and my anger began to boil up.

"What's he doing here?" I asked, trying to keep my voice as even as I could. Iroh looked at me with heavy eyes.

"His base is set up there-" Iroh started slowly. "-and it's the only place we can get repairs made quickly." I nodded, understanding that I needed to keep cool about everything.

"Come on!" Zuko growls, prowling off the ship and onto the base site of Zhao as Iroh and I follow behind him. Tents and buildings line the right side of the area; ships line the left and what looks like a railroad line runs down the middle. All these huge war ships make the one we came in on look like a toy. As we walk down the spout of the ship Zuko speaks to Iroh.

"Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his trail." I thought of Aang, Katara and Sokka and hoped they were okay.

"You mean the Avatar?" Iroh questions completely clueless of who Zuko was talking about, causing me to laugh quietly.

Zuko turned to Iroh sharply, "Don't mention his name on these docks! Once word gets out that he's alive every firebender will be out looking for him and I don't want anyone getting in the way." I could feel the iciness in his voice and see the anger in his eyes.

"Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?" An unpleasant, familiar voice drawled out from behind the Fire Nation prince, surprising all of us. My surprise quickly faded from my face and was quickly replaced with a frown at the man before me, it seemed like he hadn't changed a bit. As he approaches us he places his hands behind his back as if he was some hot shot.

"Captain Zhao" Zuko muttered distantly. I could hear the anger and discontentment in his voice as he said Zhao's name.

"It's Commander now. And General Iroh" he bowed to Iroh and spoke again. "great hero of our nation."

"_Retired_ general" Iroh corrected politely. I glanced at Zhao, wondering if he remembered who I was.

"And Sienna, it's been far too long." He smirked with dangerous eyes. I scowled at him angrily.

"Not long enough if you ask me." I spoke quietly, trying to keep my voice even and calm. Finally, I looked at this man I despised in the eyes. He looked… amused? I let out a steady breath, trying to keep my head as Iroh placed a hand on my shoulder.

"The Fire Lord's brother, son and an old friend are welcome guests any time. What brings you to my harbor?" He questions, lifting his hand up and stroking his facial hair.

"Our ship is being repaired." Iroh answered for everyone shortly. I smirked at Iroh's quirky response. All four of us looked back to the ship which had heavy damage to the bow and was smoking.

"That's quite a bit of damage." Zhao murmured suspiciously, eyeing Zuko.

"Yes... you wouldn't believe what happened." Zuko stammered nervously, looking to Iroh for help before passing the buck. "Uncle! Tell Commander Zhao what happened."

Iroh's eyes widen and he blinks, obviously trying to think of an excuse to feed Zhao. "Yes, I will do that. It was incredible." He rubs his beard, thinking of what to say before leaning over to Zuko and whispering, "What... did we crash or something?"

Zuko jumped onboard, looking more nervous than ever. "Uh, yes! Right into an Earth Kingdom ship." I shook my head, thinking what a lame excuse the boys had come up with. I would have to jump in and save them next time.

"Really? You must regale me with all the thrilling details." Zhao smirks, leaning over to almost challenge Zuko. "Join me for a drink?"

Zuko turns away from Zhao preparing to leave. "Sorry, but we have to go." Iroh placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Prince Zuko, show Commander Zhao your respect!" He scolded the young prince, turning to Zhao and bowing politely to him. "We would be honored to join you. Do you have any ginseng tea? It's my favorite." I shook my head, smiling at Iroh's question. It was typical of him to ask something like that.

Iroh and Zhao turn to walk away and I stand, waiting for a frustrated prince. Zuko growls in frustration and releases fire from his fists angrily as he turns and walks with me to follow Zhao and Iroh down the dock. We walked in silence as Zhao and Iroh walked ahead of us chatting quietly. I looked at Zuko, who did nothing but stare out in front of him. Had I done something wrong? I felt a pang of sadness inside me as I realized Zuko would never see me as I saw him.

We stood in front of a fairly large tent revealing a wooden stockade and many Fire Nation tents behind it. One is particularly large, with a prominent Fire Nation symbol on it. Two guards, flanked by large standing firepots, stood at the ready in front of this tent. As Zuko and I entered we saw Zhao staring at a large world map up against the wall.

"And by year's end, the Earth Kingdom capital will be under our rule." Zhao boasted proudly. Iroh is standing near a bunch of weapons inspecting them. Zuko and I sat in chairs across from Zhao, who has a smirk on his face. "Fire Lord will finally claim victory in this war." He continued, looking back up to the map.

"If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool." I had to agree with Zuko, did the fire lord really think overtaking the other nations would be that simple?

"Two years at sea have done little to temper your tongue." He paused, suddenly changing the subject. "So, how is your search for the Avatar going?" I felt my eyes widen at his question. With a crash, Iroh tipped over the stand of weapons he has been examining in the background. The commotion brings the conversation to a halt and Iroh cringes at the mess he had just made.

"My fault entirely" Iroh muttered embarrassed by the disruption. He backs away from the mess and stands off to the side.

"We haven't found him yet." Zuko informed Zhao, looking down at the table with hard eyes.

"Did you really expect to? The Avatar died a hundred years ago along with the rest of the airbenders." Zhao told us shrewdly, eyeing Zuko. He paused, as the prince averted his eyes guiltily. I kicked Zuko under the table causing him to look up at me startled. No way was I going to let Zuko blow Aang's cover. "Unless you found some evidence that the Avatar is alive." Zhao asked slowly. I decided it was my turn to take over the conversation.

"There hasn't been any evidence that the Avatar has been alive for a hundred years. How could we possibly have found something that hadn't already been found in the last century?" I questioned him, raising an eyebrow. Zuko looked down, not saying a word.

"Prince Zuko?" Zhao questioned, still suspicious.

"No" Zuko muttered unconvincingly. "Nothing" Zhao stood up from his chair with slight force.

"Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only one who can stop the Fire Nation from winning this war. If you have an _ounce_-"He leaned close to Zuko's face, trying to intimidate the teen. "-of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you've found." I growled angrily, clenching my fists under the table. Zuko may be banished, but he was still the prince of the Fire Nation. How dare Zhao speak to him like that?

"I haven't _found_ anything. It's like you said. The Avatar probably died a long time ago." He spoke defiantly causing my body to swell with pride. "Come on, Uncle, Sienna, we're going." Zuko tried to get up and exit, but was blocked by a few guards standing at the exit. One of the guards walks towards Zhao to deliver a report.

"Commander Zhao, we interrogated the crew as you instructed. They confirmed Prince Zuko had the Avatar in custody, but let him escape." I felt my heart squeeze in fear, what would happen to us now?

"Now, remind me..." Zhao walked behind Zuko and me, his voice tight and full of authority. "... how exactly was your ship damaged?"

**A/N: Well thats it for now, pleaseee review, causee i didnt get that many for last chapter and I wont keep updating if I dont get reviews. Imma jerk like that. :]**


	5. Chapter 5: Agni Kai

**Hey guys, another update! :] I'm pretty happy with this story, that's probably why I've been updating so much. Don't get used to it though; I might not update as fast every chapter. But people reviewing and/or messaging me with their thoughts and ideas would help motivate me to get the chapters out faster! Well, here it is. I hope you like what I've got in store for you!**

"My search party is ready." Zhao informed us smugly. Zuko and I sat next to each other and across from Iroh, both of our arms crossed over our chests. Zhao continued, almost taunting us with his superiority. "Once I'm out to sea, my guards will escort you back to your ship and you'll be free to go."

"Why?" Zuko demanded angrily. "Are you worried I'm going to try and stop you?"

Zhao laughed at Zuko causing my anger to deepen. "You? Stop me? Impossible."

Zuko stood suddenly, causing me to jump slightly at the sudden movement. "Don't underestimate me, Zhao. I _will_ capture the Avatar _before_ you." I admired his bravery but maybe provoking an admiral who had tons of warships under his command wasn't such a smart move.

"Prince Zuko, that's enough!" Iroh scolded standing with the three of them. I felt odd sitting by myself so I stood as well to join them.

"You can't compete with me. I have hundreds of warships under my command and you..." he looked at Zuko as if he was disgusted. "you're just a banished prince. No home. No allies. Your own father doesn't even want you."

I opened my mouth to say something to Zhao when Zuko cut me off. "You're wrong. Once I deliver the Avatar to my father he will welcome me home with honor and restore my rightful place on the throne." Yeah, that pretty much summed up what I wanted to say.

"If your father really wanted you home, he'd have let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar, but in his eyes you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation."

"That's not true!" I snarled at Zhao, completely offended and shocked that he spoke to Zuko like that. "You should show some respect for your prince Zhao, like it or not Zuko _will_ rule the fire nation one day and unless you want him to treat you the way you're treating him I suggest you knock off your rude comments and insults. Zuko may not be so kind to you when he becomes Fire Lord."

"Zuko will never become Fire Lord; he has the scar to prove it." Zhao sneered at me, smirking.

With a cry of indignation Zuko, launches himself at Zhao, bringing his face within inches of the admiral's. "Maybe you'd like one to match!"

"Is that a challenge?" Zhao question clearly amused. I looked back to Zuko who looked more pissed than I'd ever seen him. My gaze then glanced at Iroh who looked at Zuko and shook his head.

"An _agni kai_. At sunset." He barked at Zhao, his eyes dangerous. 'What are you doing you idiot?' I cried out in my mind. 'You're going to get yourself killed!'

"Very well. It's a shame your father won't be here to watch me humiliate you. I guess your uncle and girlfriend will do." He turned and exited the tent, leaving the three of us alone. 'Did he say girlfriend?' I asked myself in my head, feeling my cheeks go red. I always got embarrassed too easily. 'Did Zuko not even notice that?'

"Prince Zuko, have you forgotten what happened last time you dueled a master?" Iroh's voice was so grave it scared me. Zuko turned away from both of us.

"I will never forget."

"Zuko…" I murmured softly. He looked at me but said nothing. "Please be careful." He exited the tent with no promises made to me about what would happen as his uncle followed behind him, leaving me alone.

I sat in that tent for awhile, thinking of what felt like a lifetime ago. I missed the Zuko who proposed to me under the tree by the pond when we were 5, and the Zuko who kissed my boo-boos when I got hurt. He was kind and gentle like his mother had been, but something changed in him that I didn't really understand. I knew the old him was in there somewhere but it was hidden away underneath his scar and the burdens of his past. Maybe it wasn't something I could understand. Whatever it was, I was pretty sure it had something to do with the scar he had that marked him to every other fire nation citizen except me.

**xXxXxXxXxXxX****xXxXxXxXxXxX****xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Remember your firebending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapons." Iroh informed Zuko wisely. Zhao and Zuko were facing away from each other in preparation for the battle.

Zuko stood with a determined look on his face. "I refuse to let him win." His shoulder wrap falls to the ground ceremoniously. Zhao stands and turns, his shoulder wrap falling to the ground, as well.

"Good luck Zuko." I encouraged him with a smile, squeezing my hand on his shoulder and letting it fall before moving back by uncle. I couldn't help but stare as Zuko stood before his opponent. When did he become so good looking? He obviously worked out a lot, his stomach was flat and muscular, and his arms were shaped just right. The intense look on his face only made him look more attractive. Don't get me wrong, I liked Zuko when we were kids but I never imagined he would turn out to look like this. Too bad he didn't have the personality to match his great looks. ((**A/N: She means he's always cranky. :P I like Zuko's personality though. It kind of defines him in a way, at least for now.))**

"This will be over quickly." Zhao smirked. A gong sounded from the top of the gates and both men got into a firebending stance. Prince Zuko fires the first shot which passes harmlessly to Zhao's left. He fires again; this time it passes without effect to Zhao's right. Zuko fires several more, the last of which Zhao blocks, satisfaction evident on his face. Frustrated and losing control of his breath, Zuko moved towards his opponent, unleashing more fire from both his hands and feet. Zhao dodged or blocked them all. Zhao then crouched forward and shoots flame at a point on the ground close in front of him. Iroh fidgeted restlessly next to and I took a deep breath in and held it.

"Basics, Zuko!" Iroh shouted to his nephew. "Break his root!" Zhao fired many volleys of flame, alternating between his fists. Zuko blocked each, but is slowly forced back. On the last volley Zhao uses both hands, knocking Zuko over and sending him skidding backwards in the dirt. Zhao took a flying jump at him and lands as Zuko tried to get up, but he isn't fast enough. Zhao fired right at him and Zuko rolled out of the way just in time, and as he is getting up swept Zhao's feet out from under him and Zuko landed on his feet. Zuko is advanced towards Zhao, using his feet to produce small waves of flame that rush toward his opponent. Zhao is caught off balance and wobbled slowly backward. Zuko finally laid Zhao out flat on the ground with a blast of fire. Zuko rushed up to him, prepared to deal the final blow.

"Do it!" Zhao snarls at Zuko, encouraging Zuko to finish him off. Zuko released a blast that shoots directly at Zhao causing me to suck in another short breath. He stands erect, dropping his fighting stance. Iroh and I see a smoking hole in the ground, and Zhao, clearly very much unharmed, next to the hole.

"That's it? Your father raised a coward." I knew Iroh and I weren't thinking that at all. Zuko showed Zhao mercy and Zhao shouldn't be speaking to him like that. I stepped forward

"Next time you get in my way, I promise I won't hold back." Zuko snarls at Zhao before turning to me, grabbing my bicep and leading us both away. Zhao got up and, with a howl of anger, unleashed a whip of flame at Zuko. I heard him coming and quickly pushed Zuko forward and in front of me. I wouldn't let him get hurt, not again. Squeezing my eyes shut I waited for the burning that I felt only a few days ago from the same person I'm protecting but it never came. I turn around to see that the flame is extinguished as a hand closed over the foot. Iroh has moved between them to stop the dishonorable attack. Everyone remained frozen for a moment before Iroh hurled Zhao back into the dirt with little effort. Zuko rushed to avenge the insult, but was stopped by his uncle.

"No, Prince Zuko. Do not taint your victory." Iroh scolded causing Zuko to stop fighting. Iroh turned to face Zhao with a look of condescension on his face. "So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat." Iroh's eyes narrowed at the admiral lying on the ground before him before spitting, "Disgraceful. Even in exile my nephew is more honorable than you." Zuko looked at Iroh shocked and I smiled. "Thanks again for the tea. It was delicious." Iroh moved to leave and Zuko and I follow close behind. With subdued anger, Zhao watched us exit the gate of the arena.

"Did you really mean that, Uncle?" Zuko asked quietly almost as if he didn't believe it.

"Of course. I told you ginseng tea is my favorite." He replied slyly, grinning. I smiled, stepping lighter and feeling happier for some reason as we walked back to the boat.

**xXxXxXxXxX****xXxXxXxXxX****xXxXxXxXxX****xXxXxXxXxXx**

It'd been days since our encounter with Zhao and everything on the ship had been peaceful. Zuko and I barely spoke those few days but it didn't bother me much, I knew he'd talk to me when he was ready. It was odd, we shared a room (there was none left and there was no way I was going to be sleeping in the crew's quarters) like we did when we slept over at each other's house when we were younger. He didn't speak to me much and I wasn't sure why, but I knew that eventually he'd come around. He always did.

Breathe in, the room got dark, breathe out, the room got bright. We had been sitting in silence for almost two hours and I was reading a waterbending instruction book while Zuko meditated.

"Why did you guys leave?" I jumped slightly at the sudden disturbance of the tranquil air inside the dark room. If I hadn't heard the voice I would have guessed nothing had changed. Zuko still sat in the exact same position, his eyes closed as he still focused on his breathing. I knew what he was talking about and I'd regretted it since the day I left.

"My mom wanted to" I told him softly, closing my book. "she didn't feel right being there after my dad died. I guess it was her way of dealing with her loss." Zuko never looked at me; he never even acknowledged my presence except for the question.

"I'm sorry." He sounded regretful and it almost broke my heart. I always knew Zuko was a good guy but he'd always been a little confused. All he wanted was for his father to love him and he'd do anything to get that love back. I never understood what was wrong with Ozai. He was kind to Zuko when he was a child but something inside seemed to change over time. I couldn't quite place my finger on what it was. He was always better than his father and even though he was hunting the Avatar I knew one day he would see the light and realize what he was doing was wrong for the world. I wanted to help him on his journey.

"For what?" I asked surprised. He took another deep breath so much that the candles nearly went out. Before Zuko can answer there's a quiet knock on the door and it slowly opens. Iroh pops his head in looking slightly nervous. 'Oh boy' I think. 'here we go.'

"The only reason you should be interrupting me is if you have news about the Avatar" Zuko said in a dangerously silky voice.

Iroh stepped into the room cautiously clutching a map. "Well, there is news, Prince Zuko, but you might not like it. Don't get too upset." I laughed slightly at Iroh as he glared at me. Everyone was so afraid of making Zuko angry but I kind of found it funny.

"Uncle, you taught me that keeping a level head is a sign of a great leader. Now whatever you have to say, I'm sure that I can take it." Zuko said oddly calm.

"Okay, then... we have no idea where he is." Iroh had a nervous grin on his face.

"WHAT!" Zuko bark enraged causing the four candles flare to the ceiling with his wrath. So much for being a great leader… He stood quickly and turned around to face his uncle, his anger evident on his face. Iroh turned away from the flames and raised his right arm to protect his face. As the flames subsided and he pulled a fan out of his robes.

"You really should open a window in here." Iroh muttered, fanning himself.

"Give me the map!" Zuko snapped, snatching the map out of Iroh's hands. He opened the rolled scroll and began to study it as Iroh continued to fan himself.

"There have been multiple sightings of the Avatar, but he is impossible to track down." Iroh informed Zuko as they looked at the zig zags on the map. I stood up and walked over, taking a quick glance at it.

"How am I going to find him, Uncle?" Zuko muttered looking down at the map marked with circled Xs and dotted lines connecting the reported Avatar sightings. The lines zigzag all over the landmass drawings. "He is clearly a master of evasive maneuvering."

"Or he has no idea where he's going." I chuckled, thinking of the bald headed monk. Knowing him, he didn't have a clue where he was headed.

**A/N: Yeah this is kind of a short chapter. Sorry guys! I worked a double shift yesterday so I wasn't able to write, and I work a double tomorrow so I might not post. Maybe I'll write the next chapter tonight and post it tomorrow night. I don't know, we'll have to see how things go. Remember, REVIEW PLEASE! :] Thanks everyone. **


	6. Chapter 6: Alone at Last

**Oh my gosh! I'm SOOOOOOO sorry for not writing sooner! I've been so busy with work and trying to spend at much time with my boyfriend before he goes off to college and I don't get to see him much. :[ I'm really sorry! I promise I'll try to get my chapters out sooner from now on! I really like this chapter, a little bit of alone time for Sienna and Zuko. Should be interesting, I think. **

**I apologize if Zuko seems "out of character" but the way I see it is everyone is out of character when they like someone. At least, that's how most people are. Please tell me what you think of it. **

**Currently Listening to: Snuggle Song by Schnuffel Bunny. ((It's so cute, a bunny's singing to a carrot :P))**

**Fire and Water: Chapter 6**

'That guy with the fish just _had_ to tell Zuko that the Avatar was on Kyoshi! Now he's got Zuko all worked up like he usually is, stupid fish guy.' Sienna seethed angrily as she watched Zuko put his armor on over his clothes. What did he think he was going to do, sleep in his armor?

"Zuko" She muttered lowly, stepping forward and placing her hands on his shoulders. "we won't even arrive in Kyoshi until tomorrow, why don't you rest tonight?" Even from his shoulder pads I could feel him getting hot.

Suddenly flames shot around the room, causing Sienna to unintentionally flinch hard and push herself up against Zuko. "I need to capture the Avatar!" he barked, spinning around with a vicious, wild look in his eye. Sienna's eyes were still wide with fear and when Zuko looked at her, his eyes immediately softened, remembering how much he hurt her with fire last time. "Sienna" Zuko spoke softer this time, abruptly catching her attention. She looked up, dangerously aware of how close they were to each other. Unfortunately for her, she was a whole head shorter than Zuko and a lot smaller, epically with his armor on. Her cheeks were tinted a little red as she let her arms drop to her side.

"Yes?" she gulped, feeling a little dizzy. Sienna faintly remembered feeling like this as a child but never understood the feeling. No matter how much she tried, she would always love Zuko and she knew it now more than ever. She just wished he would feel similar, it would never happen though. He was a prince and she was a water tribe girl.

Zuko's head, however, was spinning as much as Sienna's. He gazed down at the small black-haired female, her hands, which were on his chest a moment ago, fell to her sides. Sienna's cheeks were streaked with a soft crimson color and her eyes were hidden under her long lashes as she peered up. Zuko thought she looked beautiful. "Will you help me with this armor?"

Sienna smiled and her body relaxing when Zuko asked such a silly question. Nodding, she tenderly placed her hands on the armor of his chest and moved to where the chest pads are tied under his armpits. As she untied the first string, Zuko spoke.

"You never told me why you did what you did back at the harbor."

"And what would that be?" She asked, genuinely not remembering. Zuko sigh irritated.

"Putting yourself between me and Zhao's attack, why did you do it?"

_Why did I do it?_ She wondered to herself, biting her lower lip. Sienna lifted his arm and untied the string from his armpit. "It doesn't matter"

"Why did you do it?" he asks again evenly, obviously not willing to let this go.

"Why do you care?" She huffed; the edge in her voice was just as intense as his. _Why does he care?_ She silently wondered to herself. Her eyes shifted up to his, gold meeting blue in a heated argument before she finally crumbled under the intense stare. "I didn't want to see you hurt again. Last time I wasn't there to help, I wanted to make a difference this time." She said honestly, moving to his other arm and undoing the ties.

Zuko dropped his arms to his sides, contemplating what Sienna had just told him. _Why did she want to protect me?_ He thought to himself, completely oblivious to what was stirring in the air around him. Zuko enjoyed the light touches he received as she gently removed the ties. He sucked in a breath as she touched his stomach on top of his shirt. Tenderly Sienna lifted the armor over his head, brushing his right ear as she did. His amber eyes squeezed shut and he let out a low, shaky breath. Zuko's head was clouded the moment he touched her.

"Why would you protect me?" He questioned as she averted her eyes away from his. The small girl turned, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. She set the large metal torso piece of armor on the table in front of her.

"I just…." She hesitated. "moved." Zuko blinked at her odd response. "I wasn't really thinking, it just happened." She turned again, looking at him with a shy smile. "I can't really explain it."

"Oh." Was the only response he could muster. "Well thank you" He told me, somehow I knew he meant it. I smiled, doing something that even surprised me. I walked over, pressing myself against him and wrapped my arms around his neck. I don't know what drove me to want to hug Zuko, it just felt right. His arms hesitated before he placed them around my waist, returning the embrace. We stayed, locked together in our own little world for a few moments before I began to pull away. I glanced up at his face, wondering what his expression looked like. His eyes were hard, but I saw a faint redness in his cheeks. Before I could comprehend what was going on he leaned down and my brain went haywire. My hands began to shake as he got closer, hesitating for a moment before his lips found mine. His kiss was soft, lingering on my lips as if too afraid to go any further. Making the next move I pressed my face closer, inhaling the smell of charred wood and the ocean. He opened his mouth, silently asking for more and I obliged. I felt my stomach erupt into a fit of butterflies. A moan bubbled up my throat and escaped out my mouth before I could push it back down. Zuko smirked, biting on my bottom lip softly. His arms circled tighter around my waist and I smiled into the kiss, not expecting it to be so happy about kissing my once best friend.

A loud bang caused both of us to jump back, looking at the door in surprise. Slowly it opened, revealing a guard. "Sorry to bother you sir."

"Its fine" Zuko sigh, looking slightly flustered. "What is it?"

"General Iroh would like to speak to you; he said that you would be down here." He looked nervous, like Zuko was going to freak out because he interrupted us.

"I'll be right there." Zuko told the guard. He nodded and turned and closing the door behind him as he left. I glanced from the ground to Zuko, slightly embarrassed. "Sienna" He started, fortunately I had an escape plan formed while he spoke to the guard.

"I need to go speak with the cook, I'll see you later Zuko." I bolted out of the door before Zuko even had a chance to say anything else.

**A/N: Sorry it was so short, but at least it was an update right? :D Tell me what you think! **


	7. Author's Note

Dear Readers of Fire and Water: Book 1-

This is a note concerning the lack of reading and reviews. I'm extremely disappointed in how this story is turning out. I might even stop writing just because I'm upset about the lack of feedback. I don't really even know if anyone is reading my story anymore and that thought is making me depressed. :[

How might you fix this? Review, message me, show me that **SOMEONE **is showing some kind of interest in my story. I think my last chapter had only one review, **ONE**! And that was by a person who's been reading it and reviewing as I write the chapters. A special thanks to **SerenityLux **for being one of the **ONLY **people to review on either of my active stories I have going. Seriously, you have absolutely no idea how much that means to me. I want to find out your address, go to your house and give you a hug and candy! That's how much I love you!

People, **PLEASE **review. I love writing but what's the point of putting it online if no one's going to read it? That's stupid.

Comprende? Thanks.

Much Love,

~Sarah


	8. Chapter 7: Kyoshi Island

**Well people, I'm back! :D Thanks for being patient with me! Sorry about my melt down in my author's note. I'm okay now! :P I'm super excited about this chapter, Sienna finally gets to see Katara and Sokka after all this time. It should be interesting. **

**So have any of you guys seen the Avatar movie? I haven't and I'm debating renting it. Would it even be worth my money? Hah, I heard from a few people it sucked. **

**Song of the Chapter: ****To The Sky - Owl City && There For Tomorrow- Remember When ((More of a song for Zuko))**

"Don't you think we're taking this too far?" I questioned, squeezing Zuko's torso tighter. We were seated on the back of a rhino looking for the Avatar at Kyoshi Island.

"Sienna, don't start with me." He sounded frustrated and it made me grin. I glanced over to uncle, he wasn't looking at us but I could tell he was smiling.

"Why can't I have my own rhino?" I huffed, fake pouting. Even though I couldn't see, I'm pretty sure Zuko rolled his eyes.

"I've told you like three times Sienna-"He sigh exasperated. "-there aren't enough for everyone. And you'll be the safest with me or Uncle." I didn't answer him, only placed my head on his back, drifting into my thoughts. I wondered how Sokka was doing. Hopefully he wasn't getting in too much trouble. I missed his stupid jokes and sarcasm. My mind wandered to Katara. I felt so bad about our fight before I was taken aboard Zuko's ship. Hopefully we could make amends next time we crossed paths.

I snapped my eyes open and we were entering the village. Guilt radiated through me as I saw some of the citizen's facial expression. Anger, fear, anxiety and above all else hatred was evident on their faces'. "Come out Avatar, you can't hide from me forever!" Zuko shouted, causing his voice to echo slightly against the houses. He turned and looked at his men behind him. "Find him" He ordered, his eyes blazing with determination. I shook my head, releasing my iron grip on Zuko's stomach and leapt off the beast. "Stay here Sienna." He barked at me.

"Katara and Sokka are here!" I shouted back at him with as much hostility. "I have to find them!" I turned and bolted in the opposite direction into a line of houses, praying Zuko didn't try to stop me. I kept running, when I thought it was safe I looked back. No Zuko. I smiled happily before I abruptly ran into something. Falling onto the ground, I looked up and saw a girl, her face was painted and she was wielding fans. She raised her weapons, ready to strike at me when I held up my hands.

"Do you know if Sokka is here?" I asked. "I need to find him." She stood slowly, still very well guarding herself.

"I can take you to him, quickly!" I leapt to my feet and followed her, weaving through countless alleys between buildings. Finally, after a few minutes of sprinting, we arrived at a smaller building that I assumed Sokka was in. Both the mysterious warrior and I walked inside, Sokka and another girl were speaking in a hushed tone.

"I guess training's over." Sokka muttered, glancing at the door. He looked back at the girl he was with before looking back at me, his eyes wide. "Sienna?"I grinned.

"Miss me, cousin?" I teased, running over and hugging him tightly. "Why exactly are you dressed as a girl?" He opened his mouth to explain but I quickly cut him off. "Never mind, I don't want to know." He grinned down at me, clearly embarrassed.

"How did you get here?" He asked me, releasing me from his hug, waiting for an answer.

"Zuko's here." I muttered. He growled, clenching his fans as he looked out the door and towards the sky.

"Let's go." Sokka growled at the girl he had been training with. Clenching his fans even tighter than before, Sokka ran out the door and into the streets, zig zaging through alleys again. I followed closely behind; securing my long braid that fell over my shoulder. I wouldn't fight Zuko, but I would be there to make sure no one killed each other.

The main street suddenly appeared, Zuko standing in the middle of it facing the opposite direction. He spun around on his hands, shooting fire bolts out of his feet at the approaching warriors. Knocking them all to the ground, he pulled himself to his feet and leapt to the middle of the street.

"Nice try, Avatar!" Zuko shouted as he regained his composure. "But these little girls can't save you!" I frowned, was he trying to imply something about female warriors?

"Hey! Over here!" Aang shouted from behind Zuko. The young prince spun around, smirking when he saw the young Avatar.

"Finally" Zuko and Aang faced each other, 'High Noon' style. Zuko let loose three consecutive fire balls from his hands. Aang dodged them and, using his staff as a helicopter, and flew toward Zuko. Zuko shot another blast of fire, which knocked Aang's staff out of his hands causing my heart to squeeze in fear. Aang leapt away and picked up two discarded fans. Zuko ran full force at Aang, who used the fans to throw an enormous gust of air at Zuko. The air knocked Zuko through the wall of a building. Aang dropped the fans and picked up his staff. He threw it into the air and flew over the now burning town. He looked behind him to see the statue of Avatar Kyoshi engulfed in flames, landing next to Katara and me as we helped a small child inside.

"Stay inside, little one." I told the girl, gently pushing her through the door. I glanced at Aang, who was looking around at the town engulfed in flames guiltily. "It's your not your fault." I assured him.

"Look what I've brought to this place." He muttered bitterly, not taking his eyes off of the statue of Kyoshi. I frowned, shaking my head.

"Sienna's right, it's not your fault." She read my mind.

"Yes, it is. These people got their town destroyed trying to protect me." Aang hung his head, his eyes focused now on the ground.

"Then let's get out of here. Zuko will leave Kyoshi to follow us. I know it feels wrong to run, but I think it's the only way." Katara assured him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"I'll call Appa." Aang took a few steps away to call his bison. This may have been the only opportunity to get to say sorry to Katara.

"Sienna" Katara called to me, focusing my attention away from Zuko. "I'm sorry about what happened with Gran back home. Things got out of hand."

"I'm sorry too." I smiled at her, shaking my head. "I acted like a child and I treated you like one too." Her facial features relaxed as she moved towards me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders into an embrace. "I love you Katara."

She squeezed me tighter. "I love you too Sienna. Come with us, to the north pole."

"I can't Katara; I'm traveling with Iroh and Zuko." I released her from my arms and looked into her confused blue eyes. "Zuko and I were good friends when he was little. Something in his past made him cold, but I know there's something good in him. He'll be Fire Lord one day; don't you think he would make a good ally?"

"I guess, but seriously he's pretty screwed up. Not to mention dangerous, look what he did to this village." I glanced around at the burning buildings. She was right, Zuko and his fire bending was extremely dangerous; I learned that first hand.

"I have to try, not only for the world but for him too." She nodded, quickly hugging me one more time. "We'll see each other soon; Zuko _is_ hunting Aang after all."

"We will, take care Sienna." She turned to leave, running towards Appa, who came to the call of Aang.

"You too!" I shouted after her. Katara hopped on the bison and Sokka did the same a few seconds later. Aang got Appa into the air they ascended into the sky.

"Back to the ship! Don't lose sight of them!" Zuko shouted to his men. I stood, dazed for a few seconds. "Hurry up Sienna!" He shouted at me, motioning for me to get on the rhino with him. I ran and climbed up onto the rhino with the fire bender. He whipped the reins against the beast's back and it started forward. Looking back into the sky I watched as Aang jumped off Appa, falling down into the water. I was about to say something to Zuko when I stopped. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Several seconds went by before the unagi burst out of the water, Aang riding on it. He had hold of both whiskers and forced the unagi's head towards the burning town of Kyoshi where we were headed out of. Aang pulled back on the whiskers and the unagi spewed water over the town. The stream continued long enough to put out the fires Zuko and his army had begun. The down side for Zuko and his men got soaked by the water from the unagi. I smirked, using my water bending to dry both Zuko and myself off. I heard a growl of annoyance come from the fire bender in front of me. "Don't let them get away!" Zuko growled at his men again, hitting the rhino with the reins harder, forcing it into a run. Startled, I clung tightly to Zuko's torso. Arrogance radiated off the young fire bender as we trotted down towards the ship.

I looked up into the sky; the bison was almost completely out of view. Zuko wouldn't give up on hunting Aang now, I knew that for certain. Maybe I could help him change his mind, but then again Zuko had always been extremely stubborn. Something I loved about Zuko, he was resilient when he wanted something. Oh, just ignore me.

We arrived at the ship, loading the rhinos on. Zuko barked orders at his men and we set off in the direction Aang had headed. I knew where they were headed, and I knew the way to the North Pole. I'd been there and back from many different places many times. Should I inform Zuko of where the Avatar was headed?

I decided that for now, Zuko could try to figure out the Avatar's intentions on his own. But I would be there with him every step of the way to try and help.

**Chapter End! :D Thanks you guys for reading. I'm going to try and be more on top of both my stories from now on. Be patient please! I hope things can get more intimate next chapter! Stay tuned! **

**xoxo**

**~Sarah**


	9. Chapter 8: A Well Deserved Break

**Welcome back everyone! Here's another chapter of my Avatar story! :D Hah, should be a good one, I hope. It's going to be a little less structured, considering that in the next few episodes Zuko isn't in them. I'll do my best to write the Zuko side of the episodes though! :]**

**Another thing, I just realized that I've been kind of switching from first to third person POV and I'm sorry if that's confused anyone, I'll work on getting better at watching that. :\ **

**Song of the Chapter: White Flag by Ditto**

"_Absence from those we love is self from self - a deadly banishment."-William Shakespeare_

Chapter 8:

I whirled water around my head, practicing my water bending. This move I already had down to a second nature, I was just too lazy to practice the more difficult moves I was learning. A few weeks had passed since we'd seen the avatar at Kyoshi Island. I wondered how my cousins were doing. Yawning, I dropped the water to the deck of the ship and walked over to the railing, placing my hands on both sides of my body and looked down at the sparkling blue water. Lifting one of my hands over the rails I lifted some of the sea water up, surrounding my fingers and turning the water to ice. In a split second, I flipped around and flung the sharp ice pieces behind me, nearly hitting Zuko in the process. When did he get there?

"Sorry!" I shouted with wide eyes. Zuko's eyes mirrored my own, the amber shining with the reflection of the sun. His eyes then narrowed, causing the shine that I saw for only a moment before to vanish.

"What are you doing!" He snarled at me, eyes blazing. "You almost hit me!" I grinned, rubbing the back of my neck with my hand.

"Sorry about that…" I glanced up at him through my eyelashes. His features were perfect, just how I remembered. Zuko always had a lot of his mother in him, personality and in appearance. Ursa had always been beautiful, just like Zuko was. "What did you need?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Uncle wanted to know if you wanted to go to town with him." His eyes flickered to the left for a moment, breaking our eye contact.

"Are you going?" I questioned. My heart leapt out of my chest when I heard I could finally get off this stupid ship. Silently, I prayed Zuko would come with.

He shook his head no; something must have interested him in another direction because he wouldn't meet my gaze. "I have things to do." His amber eyes were hard as he spoke. I felt myself release a disappointed breath. He didn't want to come?

"Bummer" I murmured quietly, smoothing down my fire nation clothes. Uncle had given me some, guessing that one of my only memories of the water tribe I had left in my possession to be lost in some accident. My clothing consisted of a long, red skirt that was trimmed with gold and a tank top, a mix of red and gold covered the delicate cloth and it rose only to just below my naval. The cut was across my shoulders with a v-neck down towards my breasts. I never wore shoes, only an ankle bracelet with the fire nation insignia on it.

Turning back to the rail, I leaned my upper stomach against the metal bar, letting a sigh escape my lips. So Zuko wasn't coming, at least I still had Uncle to keep me company. The water washed gently up against the side of the ship, soothing my brain momentarily. I couldn't help but wonder, suddenly, what it would be like to be trapped underwater, the liquid filling your lungs and the weight crushing down on you. My body responded that way suddenly, felling as though the wind was knocked out of me. I took in a sharp breath, my hands gripping the railing clutched tighter. I looked down, releasing the breath slowly and saw the whites of my knuckles. Releasing the rail I turned around, slipping smoothly past Zuko and stopped directly behind them, crossing my arms over my chest. Without thinking my top jaw clamped down on my lower lip hard, feeling my heart strain.

"I'm sorry, Zuko." I didn't know where these words were coming from. They slipped out of my mouth without my even having to think. "It must have been hard after we left, my mother and me." I curled my toes on the bare metal of the ship, enjoying the cold sensation that ran through me.

"I was fine." His hard voice almost startled me. I never turned to look at him, but I could feel his eyes on my back. Suppressing a shutter I rubbed my bear arms. The earth kingdom waters were cold around here.

"I wasn't." Was the only lame confession I could muster. Breathing out a defiant sigh, I gained the courage to look at him. His face, shockingly pale, was also breathtakingly beautiful. Despite the large scar over the left side of his face, he was probably the most handsome man I'd ever seen. His dark, jet black hair was tied into a rigid pony tail at the top his head with the rest of his hair shaved. I had always known, from the time we were young, that Zuko would turn out to be handsome. A lot of people probably saw his scar and thought of his banishment, his disgrace but I saw him for who he was. When I looked at the scarred flesh I saw Zuko's determination, his spirit and his loyalty to his personal beliefs. I saw Zuko as a brave young man who got hurt by someone who should have loved him more than anyone else- his father.

"I don't know if you want to know, or care." His amber eyes flashed an emotion I couldn't quite describe to myself as I spoke. "But it destroyed me; it destroyed my life when I had to leave." I took my eyes away from his face, lifting my hand to my mouth to chew on one of my finger nails. Nervous habit. "I just wanted to let you know how much your family meant to me and my mom. It hurt her just as much as it did me when we left." I played with the end of my dark braid that was always done off to the side, falling over my left shoulder. The black/brown hairs were smooth against my chest, falling down so the end reached the top of my stomach. Then, out of the blue, mine and Zuko's kiss flooded into my memory. His arms on my waist, lips hot and heavy on mine, the butterflies in my stomach, I suddenly craved his touch again. My feet moved in hesitation, my brain screamed at me to stop but I couldn't ignore my pounding heart. The air suddenly felt heavy as I took another step and wrapped my arms around Zuko's waist, pulling myself into him and buried the skin of my face into his shirt on his chest. His arms went around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him.

"Sienna" Zuko's voice was softer than when he last spoke. I expected more, looking up at him as I waited for him to say more. After what felt like a lifetime, he continued. "When will you finish getting ready?" I felt myself grin, laughing unexpectedly.

Releasing myself from his hold I took several steps, walking backwards with a grin on my face. "I'll let you know." Was my only reply before I turned and walked towards the hallway so I could get ready in the bedroom.

**xXx**

"I'm so happy to be off the ship!" I told Uncle and Zuko for the tenth time. Behind me I heard Zuko sigh irritated. I'm sure it was because I was so giddy about getting off the ship. I jumped up and down as we entered a market, gathering supplies for our journey.

I bounced over to a stall, looking over various vegetables and fruits that we could eat. Picking up an apple, I examined it before grabbing one of the woven baskets the guards held and placed it inside. Grabbing various other foods I filled the basket about half way, silently calculating what we would need for the journey and how much we would need. Smiling back to Zuko, I asked "Do you like papaya?"

Zuko walked behind me, peering over my shoulder to look at the fruit. "Sure." He muttered, his hand briefly on my waist before he stepped back and withdrew.

I turned, placing an arm around the Prince's torso and drew him along with me. "Let's see if we can find any food, shall we?" Zuko said nothing and walked along with me, his strides were long and far apart.

"Sienna" Iroh said from behind me. Zuko and I both stopped walking and looked at him. His eyes were heavy and all of a sudden, he dropped to the ground.

**A/N: That's all for now folks! :D Sorry for the huge gap between updates! I'm ashamed of myself. Hopefully this doesn't happen again and I update sooner. Please please PLEASE review. It won't take long and love to read what you guys think of my story. **

**Xoxoxo**

**Sarah**


	10. Chapter 9: The Spirit World WSPart 1

**Hooray for faster updates! I am really sorry about all these slow updates. Urgh, I know I suck. But oh well, I hope you still love me. I'm super excited everyone. The Packers are going to the Superbowl! I never thought I'd be so proud to live in Wisconsin. :P**

**Superfreakklove****: Thank you for being so supportive! I love you! :D and the next chapters coming out… today! **

**Dark Angel 792****: I'm glad you like it!**

**Kim****: Thanks! Hope you like this one too!**

**The musical bender****: Haha just did!**

**Ally****: Thank you very much!**

**SerenityLux****: One of my most loyal readers returns! I've missed you! **

**Foesizzle12****: I'm really happy that you liked it enough to review. This is me… updating.**

**HeartlessVampireGirl****: Yes, I am planning on doing it all throughout all three books and possibly some after Zuko becomes fire lord? We'll see where this goes.**

**Thanks to anyone who read but didn't review. I appreciate you taking the time to read my work. Phew! This is a long chapter, for me at least. **

**Song of the Chapter: ****Beyoncé- I'm Scared Of Lonely**

**Chapter 9: The Spirit World (Winter Solstice Part I)**

I could hear Zuko's breath; it was sharp and sounded like he was irritated. We walked through some of the tallest trees I'd seen in my entire life. "Uncle!" Zuko shouted at the top of his lungs. "It's time to leave! Where are you? Uncle Iroh!" We emerged through some trees and found Iroh, sitting in a hot spring completely nude.

"Over here." His voice sounded more like purr than a voice. I could tell how relaxed he looked, his eyes closed and his mouth slightly agape.

"Uncle? We need to move on, we're closing in on the Avatar's trail and I don't want to lose him!" I could see Zuko's eyes flash angrily.

"What Zuko is _trying_ to say-"I rolled my eyes, glancing at Zuko, "-is that we stayed here too long. We need to move."

"You look tired, Prince Zuko, Sienna. Why don't you join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles."

"My troubles cannot be soaked away." Zuko snarled. "It's time to go!"

"Zuko…" I whispered, touching his arm softly. The prince turned his head, his eyes so intense I dropped my hand from him wide-eyed.

"You should take your teacher's advice and relax a little. The temperature's just right. I heated it myself." Iroh shifted position slightly, putting his hands together and breathed steam from his nostrils. All around us steam filled the air and Zuko swatted it away, annoyed.

"Enough! We need to leave now! Get out of the water!" I flinched at his voice.

"Very well." Iroh murmured, beginning to rise from the water. A yelp escaped my lips; I spun around quickly and covered my eyes. Zuko put his hand up horizontally and turned his head half away to block the view of Iroh's… nakedness.

"On second thought, why don't you take another few minutes, but be back at the ship in half an hour or I'm leaving without you." Without another word, Zuko turned and strode off into the trees we came out of. I blinked as Iroh sat back down with a long sigh and took off after Zuko. _Thirty minutes,_ I thought, _and then we can finally leave._

**35 Minutes Later**

I took off eagerly to try and get Iroh on the ship before Zuko became too irritated. Iroh had high blood pressure and I didn't want Zuko's yelling to make him feel any worse, especially after what happened a few days ago. Passing out in a hot springs was not something I liked to think about, so I got worried and decided to check on him. Walking briskly through the trees I stopped at the clearing, sighing in relief. There was Iroh, still enjoying the hot spring he'd been in for at least an hour now.

"Hello Sienna, what are you doing back so soon?" Iroh questioned, smiling. I sat down near a tree close to the hot spring and looked over to him thankfully.

"I was just worried about you so I came quickly to check and make sure you were alright. I'm sorry if I disturbed you Iroh." I smiled, leaning my head back up against the tree and closed my eyes.

"You were not disturbing me in the least, Sienna. I'm thankful you came to check on me, it gives me peace of mind." I opened my eyes and smiled back at him. "How is my nephew?"

"Alright, I think. No less agitated than usual." I informed, my thoughts shifting from my worries of Iroh to Zuko. I thought about his pale skin, how it reflect against the light of the moon. I reflected on his tight ponytail at the top of his head, wrapped by a single red band at the base.

"Who's there?" Iroh suddenly called into the trees. He scaled the forest in front of him with narrow eyes, searching out the source of the noise. Then, without warning, a small rodent jumped up on the bath in front of him, its ears perked up. The General lifted and outstretched his hand for the small creature to jump into. "A meadow vole! I should have known. You startled me, little one." He smiled down at the tiny living beast in his hand and laughed suddenly at himself.

Without warning, the earth started to tremble beneath me. Iroh looked up alarmed just as he and I were both encased in an earth coffin, leaving only our heads at the top. My body reacted, forcing my hands against the walls but it was all in vain. My breath quickly released from my lungs in fear.

"He's a Fire Nation soldier." One of the men said to another. No doubt they were earth benders, obviously.

"He's no ordinary soldier. This is the Fire Lord's brother, the Dragon of the West, the once great General Iroh, but now, he's our prisoner." The other man, my guess was a Captain or General, told the man.

"What about her?" His gaze now lingered on my. I held my tongue to try and force myself from saying anything foolish. No use getting into trouble with powerful earth benders. I'm sure that it would add to all the pleasantries of my day.

"I don't know, she could be a fire bender too. Keep her in cuffs just in case." Four went over to secure Iroh in shackles and one came over to me. I knew Uncle probably wouldn't try to fight them, so I didn't either.

"Where are you taking us?" I asked. The man ignored me, roughly grabbing my wrists and forcing the cold metal tightly onto them, squeezing my arms painfully. I felt myself gasp in pain as the shackles were tightened further, cutting off any circulation to my hands.

"Soldier!" One of the men behind him growled. I looked up to see a man standing behind the one imprisoning me. "Do no harm her." The soldier nodded and loosened my shackles a little, allowing the blood flow to continue. My blue-gray eyes closed slightly, my hands going numb from being cut off from blood flow.

"Bring them." The leader instructed. My man took me up and into his arms, placing me on the back of an ostrich horse before getting up himself. My feet were bound then by the leader in order to make sure I didn't try to run. They weren't stupid.

After awhile darkness set in over the forest and the earth benders used torches to make sure they could see. I felt back for Uncle, his arms were shackles into an 'X' formation across his chest and he had heaving chains going up around his neck to secure them. My eyes began to droop as I silently prayed that Zuko hadn't left without us. No doubt he would have probably noticed that we were missing by now, right?

"Where are you taking us?" Iroh's voice rang out in the stillness of the forest night. I looked up at him, feeling a little more awake now.

"We're taking you to face justice." The leader answered, never looking at him. I frowned, Iroh was a great man, and he didn't deserve anything bad to happen to him.

"Right." He murmured like it was completely obvious. "But where, specifically?"

"A place you're quite familiar with, actually. You once laid siege to it for 600 days, but it would not yield to you." I felt myself shiver at the memory of when Iroh was still at war. Those were dark times I did not like to remember. Luckily I had Zuko there to keep me entertained.

"Ah! The great city of Ba-Sing-Se." His voice sounded wistful as he recalled back to his great defeat.

"It was greater than you were, apparently." The Captain almost sneered.

"I acknowledged my defeat at Ba-Sing-Se!" His voice was full of defense. "After 600 days away from home, my men were tired and I was tired-"his voice was interrupted with a yawn and he placed his head against the back of the soldier who rode with him. "-and I'm still tired." Then, without even any hesitation, Iroh fell off the back of the ostrich horse, his eyes shut and his body still with a small smile on his face.

"Iroh" I felt myself whisper, wondering if he was okay. I'd been extremely worried about his health ever since he fainted a few days ago. "Please-"I pleaded with the Captain. "-he hasn't been well lately. Don't let anything happen to him." The man started at me for a few moments before blinking rapidly and nodded, dismounting his beast. Wordlessly, he helped Iroh to his feet and got him back on the ostrich horse. I sigh in relief, then my eyes glanced at the ground and I saw a sandal laying there. _Good thinking Uncle! _I thought to myself.

We got back underway, no one saying much of anything before I leaned on the back of the soldier, too tired to even think anymore. Then, with my wrists and ankles searing, I fell into a dreamless sleep.

**An Unknown Number of Hours Later**

We'd been sitting in silence for hours; the only noise that I could hear was the sound of the ostrich horses' feet scraping against the dirt. My hope of Zuko finding us was beginning to fade and fast. Had he really left without Iroh like he said he would? Frustrated, I bit my lower lip hard, trying my best not to show I was upset.

My train of thought was interrupted by the sound of Iroh's gasp. As I looked at him, his eyes were glued to the sky as if he was watching something above us. The Captain seemed to notice Iroh's odd behavior as well.

"What's the problem?"

"Nothing." Iroh paused for the briefest moment and I saw he was forming a plan. I'd follow along. "Actually, there is a bit of a problem. My old joints are feeling sore and achy and these shackles are too loose."

"Too loose?" The Captain questioned, skeptical.

"That's right. The cuffs are loose and they jangle around and bump my wrists. It would help me if you would tighten them so they wouldn't shake around so much." I stared at Iroh, silently thinking of what a genius he was. I would have never thought of anything so clever.

Clearing my throat, I muttered in a raspy voice, "Can I get a drink of water?" The Captain looked over to me and nodded. My soldier handed my shackled hands a canteen and I smiled thankfully. Looking down at the pouch filled with water I started to feel bad, fearing for these men's' safety.

"Very well. Corporal, tighten the prisoner's hand cuffs." I took a slow drink as the Corporal jumped down from his ostrich horse and walked over to Iroh. Just before he placed his hands on the iron, Iroh blew hot air onto the cuffs and heated them up. Then he grabbed the Corporal's hands and forced them to the cuffs, burning the man. I acted quickly then, jumping down from the ostrich horse and bended the water out of the canteen, hitting the man who I rode with off. The soldier ducked out of the way from a fire blast that was sent at him and I knew this was our chance. Iroh and I both looked at each other before we launched ourselves over the edge of a Cliffside and rolled through the rubble.

I knew we were caught the moment I felt myself being pulled down into the debris, burying Iroh and myself almost up to our heads. The earth benders were not far away, and approached us fast.

"They're too dangerous, Captain. We can't just carry them to the capital. We have to do something now." One of the soldiers told the captain, who nodded in agreement.

"I agree. They must be dealt with immediately and severely." I gulped, that didn't sound good. Forcing us from the dirt, the Captain and the three soldiers brought us down the cliff to a small clearing. I feared for the worst, were they going to kill us?

"Do not be frightened." Iroh told me as the earth benders forced us to our knees and placed our hands on a large, flat slab of rock.

"These dangerous hands must be crushed." I felt my throat close and my eyes widen in fear. They were going to _crush_ our hands for trying to escape? Iroh gave me a confident look. I wish I could have said the same about myself. The Captain lifted a large boulder from the side and hovered the rock over until it was right above our hands. Fearfully, I squeezed my eyes shut and turned away; trying to think about anything except how much this would hurt. I heard a large thud noise but felt no pain. Curiously I opened my eyes to see Zuko standing next to us, the boulder flying away from where we knelt. Relief flooded over me when I saw him. The Prince lifted his foot and kicked the chains near our hands, breaking them so we could be free. Iroh rose from the ground, a smirk on his face.

"Excellent form, Prince Zuko."

"You taught me well." The Prince countered.

"Surrender yourselves, it's five against three. You're clearly outnumbered." Zuko, Iroh and I got into a fighting stance, readying ourselves to defend.

"Uh, that's true, but you are clearly outmatched!" I was surprised to hear Iroh say that. He sounded very confident, and a little arrogant. Maybe that's where Zuko got it from.

All five earthbenders launched stones at the three of us. Iroh swung his chains and broke them into pieces mid-flight, while Zuko blasted the two nearest him with fire. Zuko was about to be hit when the stones were wrapped in Iroh's chains. He swung them around his body and released them back at their captors. They were hit in the stomach and were both knocked out. The Captain, then, launched several rocks at Zuko, who dodged them and returned fire. The fire blast is blocked when the Captain lowers his head and the fire broke harmlessly over his onion shaped helmet. The Captain raised two huge sheets of rock and Zuko looks afraid, but then chains wrap around the Captain's feet and his is pulled to the ground by Iroh. The rocks land on top of him of the Captain just as I realized I just stood there and watched the fight the whole time.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I rushed over to Zuko, who had just turned to look me over. He opened his arms and accepted me; I could feel that he was happy we were okay. Placing my face into his right shoulder I felt a few stray tears escape from the corners of my eyes. His right hand was locked into my hair, gently stroking it while his left hand was firmly at the small of my back. I was so relieved we were all okay and together again.

Then he looked down and noticed the red marks on my arm from where the soldier had gripped my wrists hard. A reddish purple bruise had formed over night, throbbing painfully every time it was touched. "Who did this?" Zuko's voice was tight and coarse. I felt myself look away, half in fear he'd grab my wrist and to avert my eyes from him.

"It doesn't matter." I told him, not wanting him to get angry and try to kill any one of the earth benders. Zuko, instead of grabbing my wrists, gripped the top of my arms near my shoulders and spun me around.

"_Who did this?"_ He hissed again, his eyes blazing like the fire in his heart. I felt myself begin to shake and looked away again, staying mute.

Uncle cleared his throat then, making me remember that we were not alone. Stepping away, I flushed in embarrassment.

"Now would you please put on some clothes!" I couldn't help but let out a loud, unladylike laugh.

**The End.**

**P.S.- I love reviews. :D**


	11. Chapter 10: Winter Solstice Part 2

**Sup peeps yo? Haha, welcome to another chapter of Fire and Water! :D Sorry, I'm in a really weird mood. So, I'm pretty much slacking in school AND my hours have been cut at work so I have EXTRA time to write in this story for all you beautiful people. Happy? I sure am. **

**P.S. I really have no idea how much time elapses in the avatar story, I'm sorry if it seems kind of weird. I'm doing the best I can to try and make it as realistic as possible!**

**I really don't have a song for this chapter, ha-ha sorry. :D**

That night after we had finally returned to the ship I fell asleep right after reaching the room, too tired to think about anything else. My sleep wasn't by any means peaceful. I dreamt that night about the earth bender soldiers, taking me from the ship and crushing my hands in legs. When I awoke I was covered in a thin layer of sweat. I could tell by the sounds around me that the ship was moving fast. Wiping my forehead, I threw off my covers and changed my outfit, and left for the deck of the ship.

"Sailing into fire nation waters." I heard Iroh growl at Zuko. _We're in fire nation waters?_ I asked myself in my head, suddenly feeling extremely uneasy. "Of all the foolish things you've done in your 16 years, Prince Zuko, this is the most foolish!" Iroh was angry, that much was evident.

"We're in fire nation waters?" I questioned, joining them up on the metal deck. Zuko's back was turned from Uncle and myself, his eyes fixed on a large scope he had at the bow of the ship.

"I have no choice, Uncle." He continued to look into the machine, not acknowledging my question.

"Have you completely forgotten that the Fire Lord _banished_ you!" My stomach twisted uneasily at Uncle's words. Would we be arrested for coming into their territory? "What if you're caught?" Iroh's face looked extremely uneasy. I placed a hand on Iroh's shoulder to try to comfort the man.

"I'm chasing the Avatar; my father will understand why I'm returning home!" Zuko had finally turned and looked at us; his face was twisted with a mix of determination and fear. His eyes were narrowed and intense.

"You give him too much credit." I agreed with Iroh's words completely. Zuko had far too much faith in his father, who had burned and banished him. "My brother is not the understanding type." Without a word, Zuko turned around and continued looking into the large scope in front of him.

"Maybe he's right, Zuko." I had finally spoken. "You should listen to him."

"Stay out of this Sienna." Zuko barked, not bothering to turn around again to look at me. I growled, annoyed, but said nothing else. He adjusted the scope and stared in one spot for a few moments. "There they are! Helmsman, full steam ahead!" The ship jolted forward and we raced on faster, finally I could spot the bison in the sky above us. Katara and Sokka were on Aang's bison. I felt my stomach turn yet again. We continued on their tail for a few moments before we were close enough that Zuko rose up the catapult from below the ship's deck, intending to shoot the bison down. I had to say something now. One soldier was pouring what looked like black tar or something nasty like that on top of the large ball. I wrinkled my noise in disgust.

"Ah, really Prince Zuko, couldn't you shoot them down with something more fragrant?" Iroh took the words right out of my mouth.

"You can't shoot the bison down, my cousins are up there!" I reached out and grabbed Zuko's arm, forcing him to spin around and meet my eyes. "They're my family, you can't!" He met my gaze for just a moment and all at once, I forgot what I was talking to him about. The Prince's eyes were shimmering in the sunlight, reflecting in a way that made his eyes look like something I'd never seen before.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, before turning back around and snapping me out of my gaze. He made a fist and shot out fire, lighting the stinky sphere that sat on the catapult. "On my mark." He held up his hand, watching the bison for the perfect opportunity to strike. My breath caught in my throat as Zuko waved his hand down, shouting "Fire!" I knew there was nothing I could do. The bison along with the three on him, obviously seeing the fireball, got out of the way just in time.

My temper flared at I let out a sigh in relief, facing Zuko with eyes burning with anger. "How could you?" My voice sounded more like an animals' snarl. "They're my family!" Feeling a few unwanted tears form in my eyes and rush down my cheeks, I bushed them away hastily. Zuko, who had noticed the tears, turned away from me and started out at the open sea in front of us.

That's when I noticed it, a large line of fire nation navy ships floating in front of us. A gasp escaped my lips, my eyes widened visibly.

"A blockade!" Zuko's voice ran out as clear as day above the rushing water around us and the sound of the engine roaring and forcing us towards them. Most of us were frozen in place.

"Technically you're still in Earth Kingdom waters." Iroh stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Turn around now and they cannot arrest you." Zuko glared over at his Uncle

Zuko responded after a few moments. "He's not turning around."

"Please, Prince Zuko-"Iroh pleaded with him. "-if the Fire Nation captures you, there's nothing I can do! Do not follow the Avatar."

"Zuko" I murmured softly. "Please turn around." I could feel my blood pumping in my wrists. Knowing that if we were captured it would be very bad news for Zuko and myself, my head spun a little.

"I'm sorry." I barely heard him whisper with his head hung. Turning towards the helmsman, he pointed forward. "Run the blockade!" The engines on the ship speed up and lunged the entire vessel forward. I yelped, stumbling backwards and bumped into the lieutenant behind me. He caught me by the waist in order to keep me from falling. My head fell against his chest and I was secure on my feet. He kept his hands on my hips and I stood, stunned for a moment before I looked up to see Zuko staring at us.

Flushing, I pushed myself up and away from the lieutenant, crossing my arms over my chest. Zuko scowled before looking ahead. Fire balls fly into the air on to both sides of Zhao. Zuko, Iroh and I stood on the deck of the ship and watched the approaching barrage of fire balls. I felt my heart squeeze in fear as I saw fire balls headed our way. A soldier tries to keep his balance as the ship gets rocked by waves created by the fireballs hitting the water close to the ship. One fireball landed extremely close to the ship and generated a wave that broke across the deck. Another fireball hit the back part of the ship. Prince Zuko braced himself against the catapult. He turned towards the front of the ship as one of the engine master stumbles out.

"Prince Zuko, the engines are damaged! We need to stop and make repairs!" The engineer shouted at the stubborn fire bender.

Turning back towards the front of the ship Zuko ordered, "Do not stop this ship." I felt a tremor under my feet and smelled smoke in the air. How would we continue with a damaged ship?

As the ship got closer, the ships of the blockade moved towards each other in order to bar his way. I grew more frightened. We were going to get caught.

"We're on a collision course!" Iroh shouted at Zuko, trying to make the young, impulsive teen realize that we weren't going to get through. I grabbed Iroh's hand in an attempt to comfort him and myself.

"We can make it!" Zuko shouted at us, turning his head towards the front of the ship. The ships get closer and closer until I was sure that we were done for. I clutched Iroh's hand tighter as I watched Zhao's smirk from his ship. Then, without any warning at all, Zhao's ship stopped completely and we slid through easily.

Stunned, I turned around and dropped Iroh's hand, my mouth hanging open. I saw Zuko and Zhao staring at each other with such intensity that I'd never seen before.

As we clear away from the blockade, Iroh looks back to the fading ships in the distance, stroking his beard pensively. I myself am not sure what to think of Zhao's move.

"That was… odd." I muttered with my eyes still on the line of ships that is now getting fairly far away. "I wonder what that was about." I felt like I was talking to myself more than anyone else.

"Does it matter?" Zuko snapped. "We got through, just like I said." I bit the inside of my cheek, my eyes narrowing but said nothing.

We continued for about another half hour before Zuko finally finished inspecting the damage to the engine. "What's he up to, Uncle? Why didn't Commander Zhao arrest me?" He questioned, his hand clenching the bar on the side railing.

"Because he wants to follow you. He knows you'll lead him to the prize you're both after… the Avatar."

"If Zhao wants to follow our trail of smoke, then that's exactly what I'll let him do." He turned; his face was filled with determination. I was confused at what he meant as he sauntered away. Quickly, I ran after him into the ship.

"Zuko wait!" He turned and faced me, his eyes still blazing. "I'm coming with you."

A noise that sounded like a growl escaped his throat. "No, you're not." He turned to walk away again but I caught his arm and spun him around, reaching up on my tip toes and pressed my lips forcefully against his. He responded almost immediately, his lips blazing against mine. Reaching out and pressing his hand on my hips he ran his tongue on my lower lip, almost demanding entrance. I obliged, opening my mouth and allowing him in. He slithered his tongue in, pressing my body tightly against his. A moan escaped his lips as our tongues danced in each others' mouth. Then, abruptly, I pulled away breathlessly.

"I'm coming with you." I breathed, my face was probably flushed. He nodded, not saying anything. We walked together down the passage way, not touching and not uttering a word to each other. As we approached a small vessel on the back of the ship, I realized Zuko's plan. He ordered the hatch down and we boarded the smaller ship, preparing it to lower into the ocean.

"Uncle, keep heading north. Zhao will follow the smoke trail while I use it as a cover." Zuko ordered.

Iroh grunted, stroking his beard and shook his head disapprovingly. "Hmm…" He muttered quietly. The crew launched the smaller ship. We landed safely in the water and disappeared into the smoke.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" I questioned quietly as we pulled out of eye sight from our ship. All I could see was a pillar of black smoke rising into the sky.

"They'll be fine." Zuko never took his eyes off the horizon. Gently, I took his hand in mine and stared out in the late afternoon sky. Zuko flexed his fingers under my and then relaxed into my grip. I knew then that everything would be okay.

An hour later or so later we arrived at the temple. Zuko and I sunk our way in, avoiding diction from anyone because the whole place seemed deserted. I knew that of course wasn't true. Turning a wrong way, I ended up at the stair case opposite the one I was supposed to be at.

"Aang!" I heard Katara shout. "Now's your chance!"

"The Avatar's coming with me!" Zuko snarled, pushing the struggling Aang towards the opening in the floor that leads to Avatar Roku's secret tunnels. "Close the doors! Quickly!" I opened my mouth to speak but Zuko cut me off. "Don't start, Sienna." I closed my mouth again surprised. Aang looked over his shoulder at Sokka and Katara. As he and Zuko reached the opening, he made several swift moves and knocked Prince Zuko off balance. Aang kicked Zuko down the stairs and turns around quickly. As Zuko tumbled down the stairs with a grunt, Aang ran towards the doors of the sanctuary which were beginning to close.

"Go!" Katara shouted at Aang. Aang banked left and leapt into the air to avoid a fire blast, doing several turns in mid-air. Aang used the heads of two of the Fire Sages as stepping stones on his way, sailing through the doors just as they are closing. The doors shut and the locks grind closed, sealing the air bender inside. "He made it!" Katara shouted happily, saying exactly what I was thinking.

A blast of bright white light came from behind the sanctuary doors. Four of the Fire Sages and Prince Zuko assumed firebending poses. They shot five simultaneous fire blasts at the doors. This time, however, the lock mechanism does not respond.

"Why isn't it working? It's sealed shut!" I sniggered at how frustrated Zuko sounded.

"It must have been the light. Avatar Roku doesn't want us inside." One of the Sages considered. Zuko angrily turned to the one Sage who helped the Avatar.

"Why did you help the Avatar?" Zuko snarled in the man's face. I took a step closer to the pair, deciding to speak up as Zuko grabbed onto the front of the man's clothes.

"Zuko, don't!" I warned. He looked at me and dropped his grip from the old Sage, his face still showing signs of annoyance.

"Because it was once the Sages' duty. It is still our duty." I admired the man's dedication to what he believed in. Suddenly, from behind Zuko, a clapping noise echoed through the large room. Startled, everyone looked over and saw Zhao standing with some fire benders.

"What a moving and heartfelt performance. I'm certain the Fire Lord will understand when you explain why you betrayed him." He sneered with a teasing smirk.

One of the Fire Sages bowed to him. "Commander Zhao" Well at least he was respectful.

Zhao paid no attention to the Sage. "And Prince Zuko, it was a noble effort. But your little smoke screen didn't work. Two traitors, in one day, the Fire Lord will be pleased." Fire benders moved forward and grabbed onto Zuko, who immediately began to struggle.

"You're too late, Zhao." Zuko barked. "The Avatar's inside and the doors are sealed."

I didn't like the way Zhao smirked again. "No matter. Sooner or later, he has to come out." Within moments, Katara, Sokka and I were all grabbed by fire benders and tied to columns. Zuko and I stood shoulder to shoulder, chained up and unable to move. Katara and Sokka were tied to one across from us.

"When the Avatar comes out, I'll figure out a way to free us then I want you to run." Zuko ordered me. I scowled at the fire bender angrily, hating the fact that he was treating me like a child who couldn't care for themselves.

"Not until you're safe." I wasn't going to back down from this.

"Sienna" He sigh my name irritably. "Please just listen to me. I'll be in a better position to escape if I don't have to worry that you're in trouble." I considered this. "Please just listen to me."

"Fine" I grumbled, looking away from him and towards the door. I could almost see him smirk without even looking. "Don't be too please with yourself." I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

The light from the sanctuary began to continue to grow all of a sudden. All four of us turned our heads away to shield our eyes from the blinding light. Zhao and his men stood before the large doors in striking position in order to hit Aang right when the doors opened. Slowly, they began to move.

"Ready" Zhao called to his men, who focused all their attention on the large doors in front of them. The light faded as the doors began to fully open, two large glowing eyes are visible in the dark of the sanctuary and smoke continued to emanate.

"No! Aang!" Katara shouted, struggling against her chains. I felt a tug as Zuko began to wriggle also.

"Fire!" Zhao shouted. All of the fire benders unleashed an unbelievable amount of power at the doors, completely engulfing it in flames. In total, nine soldiers, including Zhao, were concentrating all their fire power at the entrance to the sanctuary. The fire blasts did not enter the sanctuary. They were being held at the door and manipulated into a gigantic ball of swirling fire. The giant orb of flames slowly began to open and at the heart of the fire ball was Avatar Roku, his eyes glowing.

"Avatar Roku!" The Sage who helped the Avatar shouted in disbelief. Avatar Roku drew the fire ball back towards him and shot it out into the room. Zhao and his soldiers were knocked to the floor. The heat of the blast melted the chains holding Sokka, Katara, the "traitor" Sage, Zuko and me. Zuko and I, now free, ran like hell out of there. Avatar Roku's blast had breached the temple walls making it easier to escape. Running down the stairs, we followed the path we took in and made it fast. The dormant volcano that practically covered the island had begun to erupt.

By the time we reached our ship, molten lava is pouring from the volcano's mouth. I began to fear for my cousins but then realized they had Aapa, they could fly away from the island. Hurriedly, Zuko grabbed his spy glass and lifted to his eye so he could see through it. The bison flew next to the window and the three companions jumped onto his saddle and flew away.

It was then I realized we were back to square one.

**Thanks for reading. Phew! That was a long one. Pleaseee review and it may not take me so long to update next time! XP Or maybe it will, who knows. Next chapter should be good, it's the episode with the pirates! I'm really looking forward to writing that one!**

**Oh, I need your guys' opinion. Do you want me to keep writing in Sienna's perspective or do you want me to switch to 3****rd**** person? Let me know in your review, if you leave one.**

**Until next time! :P**


	12. Chapter 11: The Waterbending Scroll

**Hello all! I'd like to welcome you back to my story! :D I hope you guys have been enjoying the chapters. Not too many reviews from last chapter :[ Makes me sad. But thanks to those of you who review and keep reviewing. Your support is appreciated.**

**I'm sorry I haven't been updating as much as I should have. There's been a lot of messed up stuff going on in my life. My boyfriend and I broke up, and we'd been dating for more than two years. I also found out he was cheating on me with another girl I was kind of friends with. So that was pretty shitty, but it's okay because I'm better off without him and blah blah blah. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

_Water… Earth… Fire… Air… _

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.  
A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an Airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone.  
But I believe Aang can save the world._

It had been 8 days since Zuko and my narrow escape from the temple in the Fire Nation. We'd spent the first few days repairing the damages to our engine on the ship. After, we got underway and Zuko barely spoke to me. He spent most of his time practicing his fire bending or sitting in our room meditating. I'd asked him on several occasions what was wrong but he simply ignored me.

So now, 8 days after our kiss, I sat on the deck of the ship watching the moody prince practice his fire bending with a guard whose name I didn't know. My book was open to my favorite part when the ship steered sharply to the left, causing me to drop my book onto the deck floor. Both of fire benders stumbled and fell off balance. Zuko gripped the bar of the on the side of the ship. He looked up with intense eyes.

"Someone's changing our course!" He had steadied himself and stalked off into one of the passageways. Frantically, I got to my feet and jogged after him. We twisted and turned through the corridors for what seemed like a moment or two before we reached the ship's bridge. Zuko swung the door open violently, the metal of the door smacking hard against the wall of the ship. "What's the meaning of this mutiny? No one told you to change course!" He snarled. I placed a hand on his shoulder, ready so say something but he let out a growl and forced it off. Annoyed, I dropped both my hands to my side and fell silent.

Uncle was sitting across from several crew members, stroking his beard as he picked up a piece of his Pai-Sho game and moved it. "Actually, someone did. I assure you it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko." He murmured thoughtfully.

"Is it something to do with the Avatar?" The prince asked hopefully, probably because he's gotten nothing but bad news for days about the whereabouts of the Avatar.

"Even more urgent" Iroh's eyes were glued to the game he was playing in front of him. "It seems I've lost my lotus tile." He picked up another piece, moving it to another spot across the board. I never understood that game in the least.

"Lotus tile?" Zuko questioned slowly.

"For my Pai-Sho game. Most people think the lotus tile insignificant, but it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ." I sniggered at Iroh's comment, which very clearly made Zuko angry.

"You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?" Zuko growled, incensed. His amber eyes were narrowed at Iroh, and I was a little afraid that he was going to light the general on fire with his eyes.

"See, you, like most people, underestimate its value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at this port of call." He breathed; I could tell he was getting dramatic. "Hopefully they'll have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life!" Typical Iroh, that was certain. Zuko worked hard, I could tell, to contain his anger but ultimately released a gout of flame from his mouth the licked over the ceiling. Iroh smiled largely, fanning away some of the smoke from his face. I coughed a little, backing towards the door. "I'm lucky to have such an understanding nephew."

His face was painted with resentment and aggravation as he turned, nearly hitting me in the process, and stormed out of the room. I blinked a few times, trying to process what was going to happen next. Would I be allowed to go into town with Iroh and Zuko?

"Sienna!" Zuko barked over his shoulder as he continued storming down the hall. My eyes flicked to Iroh, who gave me a small smile and nod, wanting me to follow the Prince. Smiling softly, I turned towards the door and jogged out after the very moody Zuko. I turned a few times down a few different hallways, still jogging when I smacked into Zuko, who apparently waited for me in an empty corridor.

"Zuko!" I squeaked, surprised that he was right there. I stumbled, taking a step back to try and balance myself and to get some space between us. He reached out, lightening fast, and grasped the small of my back with both his hands, steadying me. My breath hitched, bring my eyes slowly up to meet his and instantly I wished I hadn't. His eyes stifled me, my voice caught in my throat and I felt as though I couldn't move. With one hand still pressed against my lower back, he brought his other hand up to my forehead, brushing a few stray bangs out of my blue eyes.

"Zuko" I breathed restlessly. Then, without even thinking, I stood up on my toes and pressed my lips to his, inhaling his scent. His lips were softer than I remembered, and so much warmer than I imagined. After a moment, his hand on my back brought me closer, his other hand finding its way into my messy black brown hair. I felt his breath quicken as he seized control, taking a step forward and forcing me against the cold metal wall of the ship. My own breath hitched as our mouths locked even more, parting lips and entering each others'.

"Sienna" I felt against my mouth, his hand twisting around in my hair. I brought my own hand up to his neck, grasping it as though he would evaporate right before me. His breath grew even more raged as he suddenly lifted me into his arms, my legs automatically wrapping around his waist. I was too busy nibbling on Zuko's lower lip to notice that he'd stumbled down the hallway to our room, kicking open the door and slamming it shut behind him. A soft moan escaped my lips as his face moved from my lips, moving to my jaw line and down to my neck. His mouth, which was still flaming against my cold skin, sucked softly against the sensitive skin of my throat. I moaned his name again, throwing my head back as I felt a wave of pleasure rush through my body and disappear like a banshee.

I felt myself being dropped down onto his bed; a small gasp of surprise came out of my mouth. Zuko, with blazing eyes, crawled back on top of me. He kissed my lips again, one hand on each side of my head. I brought both my hands to his waist, drawing up his shirt and feeling his bare skin on his back. Then, I drew my mouth away from his and attacked his neck, my hormones overtaking my judgment. His moan only encouraged me as I nibbled softly against the side of his sensitive skin, enjoying the fluttering of his pulse on his neck. I tugged at his shirt, drawing his shirt over his head and moved my lips to his toned chest, trailing them up and down. My abdomen erupted in butterflies as I felt his hips pushed harder down against my pelvis and I felt something nudge against me.

Blinking, I realized what was going on and removed my lips from his skin, my eyes wide. Zuko looked down at me with a passionate look, moving one of his hands off the sheets and placing the back of it on the side of my face. Inhaling deeply, I closed my eyes and lay my head back onto the pillow. Our hormones had almost taken us too far, which would have been very bad for the both of us.

"We'll be docking soon." I whispered softly, still slightly breathless. Zuko's eyes hardened a bit as he averted his attention from me. He pushed his hands up, moving off me and got off the bed, still shirtless. He snatched his shirt off the floor, putting it on in one swift motion. I still lay on the bed, my hair disheveled and my shirt ruffled.

"You should get ready." Was all he said before he turned and exited the room, leaving me alone.

**xXxXxXxXx**

"I've checked all the shops on this pier. Not a lotus tile in the entire marketplace." Iroh sigh. Zuko's arms were crossed over his chest with a very unhappy look plastered on his face.

"It's good to know this trip was a complete waste of time _for everyone_!" Zuko shouted at Iroh. I snorted softly next to the general in an attempt not to laugh.

"Quite the contrary. I always say the only thing better than finding something you were looking for, is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain!" A parade of fire nation soldiers walked past with a mountain of useless things we didn't even need. I felt like it was a large waste of money, but if it made Uncle happy to buy all this I guess I would live with it.

"You bought a sumki horn?" Zuko questioned, obviously just as annoyed as I was.

"For music night on the ship. Now, if we only had some woodwinds." He murmured thoughtfully. I giggled softly, putting an arm around Iroh's shoulder and hugged him. He stared at me and laughed too, patting me softly on the back. "This place looks promising!" Iroh suddenly released me and walked swiftly towards a docked ship that looked suspiciously like a pirate ship. I looked to Zuko, who was aggravated, and walked over, putting an arm around his waist to walk with him. Unexpectedly, his hot lips pressed against the temple of my forehead, slinging an arm across my shoulder as we began to walk towards the ship after Uncle.

"Ooo! That is handsome! Wouldn't it look magnificent in the galley?" Iroh was examining a monkey statue with ruby eyes on the ship. I shook my head at the man as Zuko pulled me closer to him. He'd always been extremely protective of me.

"We lost the Water Tribe girl and the little bald monk she was traveling with." One of the pirates at the counter growled to another. Zuko went ridged, dropping his arm from my waist.

"This monk, did he have an arrow on his head?" I heard Iroh make an odd, monkey noise from behind us.

"What's it to ya?" One of the pirates growled at Zuko. Another eyed me, the smirk on his face made me uncomfortable.

"We're looking for that kid; he took something from me as well." Zuko barked at them, his eyes narrowed and severe.

"Aye, he had an arrow on his head, and arms too, from what I could tell." What I assumed was the Captain, informed us. His pet reptile bird mad a horrible noise from his shoulder. I knew we were in trouble when a smirk slowly enveloped Zuko's face.

**xXxXxXxXx**

Zuko, the pirate captain and I stood on the deck of Zuko's small river vessel as it rode smoothly down the river. "Shouldn't we stop to search the woods?" The captain muttered.

"Maybe we should." Zuko answered, staring ahead into the darkness. I shook my head, walking over to the rail and placing both hands on the cold metal.

"Okay, if they stole a _waterbending_ scroll, why on earth would they be in the middle of the woods?" I asked sarcastically. Both men stayed silent as we stared ahead. I silently prayed my cousins were safe and that we wouldn't find them.

A hand found the small of my back and snaked around me, pulling me close to a warm body. I squeaked, surprised, and looked up to see one of the pirates with his dirty face near mine. "Hey there honey." He breathed, trying to be seductive. I opened my mouth to speak when I felt his arm being ripped off me and he was flung back onto the metal deck of the ship.

"Don't touch her!" Zuko snarled, steam coming out of his mouth. The man gained back his feet quickly, pulling out a knife from his belt. A smirk laid across his dirty features, his greasy black hair was pulled back into a low pony tail.

"Zuko…" I warned softly, reaching around and putting a hand on his toned stomach to stop him from attacking the man. "Don't"

He whipped around quickly, eyes blazing. "You're defending _him_?" I could hear anger and a small amount of hurt in the young Prince's tone.

"I just don't want anyone to fight." I grumbled.

"The girl's right." The Captain interrupted. "We need to focus on the task at hand. Sing, go down below and make sure the others are ready. I don't want your mistakes to lose us that scroll again."

Growling, Sing turned and left the three of us alone. Zuko, already agitated, breathed out a small amount of fire before crushing me in an iron hug. A smile tugged across my lips thoughtlessly as I embraced him back. He pressed his lips to my forehead carefully before turning back to the Captain. After only a few moments, we heard a frustrated voice echo through the woods, closer that I expected.

"Oww, stupid scroll!" I instantly recognized the voice, it was Katara's. Zuko and the Captain looked at each other, unspoken words exchanged between them. Silently the ship landed on the shore just a short distance from where we heard Katara. With one arm still around me, Zuko's blazing golden eyes turned at me.

"Stay here." He ordered as a few pirates exited the ship. I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off by pressing his lips to mine. My defiance melted away as I felt his soft mouth on mine, his body pressed against me in a way that made it mold together just right. Everything about this felt right.

Then, an instant later, he was gone. Exiting the ship with a few of the pirates, he glanced back at me and gave me a confident look before he disappeared from my sight.

Something dawned on me in that next instant. My little cousin was about to get captured by pirates. Blinking, I breathed out "Screw this" before chasing after the group of men.

"No! Let go of me!" I heard Katara shout. My heart squeezed inside my chest fearfully as I ran and cleared the trees, spotting her and a grubby pirate. She bended a water whip around and smacked the pirate in the face harshly. He let her go and she turned to run, but ran right into Zuko's arms, who held her fast.

He brought her close to his face, his eyes narrowed and angry. "I'll save you from the pirates." She let out a cry, struggling against his iron grip with tears in her eyes.

"Katara!" I shouted, running after the both of them. Zuko's eyes found me with an angrier look than he gave my cousin. One of the pirates grabbed me and held me back, preventing me from reaching my cousin. I stopped struggling, feeling disgusted by this dirty man's hand on me and let a few tears fall out of my eyes. "I'm sorry" I whispered softly at Katara. She shot me a look of annoyance and betrayal as Zuko forced her over to a tree where she was tied.

"Tell me where he is and I won't hurt you or your brother." Zuko growled at her.

"Go jump in the river!" was the only response he got from her. I smiled, knowing she got her defiance from her mother.

Zuko paused, before trying a new tactic entirely. "Try to understand, I need to capture to restore something I've lost." He circled around the tree, watching her like a vulture. "My honor. Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost." He held up my aunt's necklace, dangling it in front of Katara's face before pulling it back and walking away. I seethed at that point; did he not understand how much that meant to her? What kind of a symbol that was to my people?

"My mother's necklace! How did you get that?"

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering. Tell me where he is." Zuko growled, his attempts were all feeble and I knew it.

"No!" Katara shot back, just as angry.

"Enough of this necklace garbage. You promised the scroll!" The pirate captain growled, taking a step forwards towards Zuko.

Zuko pulled the scroll out from his belt, holding it one hand. "I wonder how much money this is worth?" He produced flames under it, obviously ready to burn it to a crisp in front of the pirates. They all yelped, taking a step forward to try and save it. "A lot, apparently. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here."

The captain ground his teeth together. "Fine." They stalked off into the woods, leaving only our crew, Zuko, Uncle and myself with Katara. Zuko, now seething, stalked over to me.

"I told you to stay on the ship!" He snarled, grabbing my arm and forcing me to look at him. I sucked in a shaky breath before answering.

"Why? So you could do torture my cousin?" I drew my faces to his, only a few inches away. "I respect you Zuko, but I love my family too. Do **not** mess with them!" It was the meanest I'd been to anyone in weeks and weeks since my melt down with Katara at the South Pole about our Gran Gran. Placing one of my hands on the side of his face, I stood up onto my tip toes and gave him a soft peck on the lips, before away from him and towards Katara.

"How could you let them do this to me?" She growled. I gave her a small smile before reaching out and giving her a long hug. She turned her head away, obviously still angry at me. Pulling away, all we had left to do was wait for the pirates to come back with Aang.

And they certainly did, after awhile. The gang of pirates stood a few yards away, Aang and Sokka in their grasp. Katara was still tied to the tree next to Iroh and me. Zuko and his crew stood in front of us facing the pirates as Zuko held up the scroll.

"Nice work." Zuko praised.

"Aang, this is all my fault." Katara sigh from next to me. I felt bad for her, but it really _was_ her fault they got caught. She knew better than to steal in the first place.

"No, Katara it isn't." Aang offered kindly, too kind if you ask me.

"Yeah, it kind of is." Iroh interjected. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"Give me the boy." Zuko barked at the pirates.

"You give us the scroll." The captain commanded.

"You're really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment!" Sokka questioned mockingly. I heard a few crew members mutter among themselves.

Zuko pointed at my cousin. "Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other."

The captain looked at Aang. "Your friend is the Avatar?" He questioned Sokka.

Sokka appeared next to the captain. "Sure is, and I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market then that fancy scroll."

"Shut your mouth, you water tribe peasant!" Zuko barked loudly, causing my heart to squeeze painfully. That insult, I felt, was aimed directly at me. Was that all I was to him, a water tribe peasant?

"Yeah, Sokka, you really should shut your mouth…" Aang muttered.

Sokka looked sweetly at the interested pirates. "I'm just sayin', it's bad business sense. Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life!"

The captain considered it for a moment. "Keep the scroll! We can buy a hundred with the reward we will get for the kid."

"You'll regret breaking a deal with me!" Zuko's voice was quiet and deadly. He and his guards on each side of him unleashed a torrent of flame which bathed the ground underneath the pirates who jumped out the way. General melee had begun. The Pirate Salesmen jumped into the midst of the firebenders with a cry. Zuko and his men bore down on the still bound Aang and Sokka. As the got near, four pirates jumped in front of the two boys to defend their captives. They dropped smoke bombs and the battlefield instantly became a foggy mess. The remaining Fire Nation soldiers approached the edge of the crowd and were instantly pulled in by the arms of pirates emerging from the smoke. All I could hear was battle cries coming from the cover of smoke. Using the opportunity while everyone was distracted, I ran to Katara, bending water out of the river and cut through the ropes that bound her to the tree.

"I'm still mad at you." She informed me, but then surprised me by giving me a quick hug before running off and towards the fighting. I blinked, glancing at Iroh before trotting off after her into the cloud of smoke.

Everything from that point on was utter chaos. There were random weapons soaring through the air above my head as I coughed loudly from the smoke. Stumbling blindly through the smoke the pirates had created I coughed, looking for anyone I could help. There was tons of yelling from every which direction, my vision was starting to get blurry from all the smoke I had inhaled. Everything was overwhelming my sense as I stumbled, desperately trying to find my way out.

I found myself being able to breathe fresh air a moment later. I'd escaped the cloud of dust as I saw Aang, Sokka and Katara getting into the pirates' boat. Smirking to myself, I watched as Iroh grabbed onto Zuko and the Captain to break up the fight.

"Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship has set sail?" He scolded with a harsh look on his face.

"We have no time for your proverbs, Uncle!" Zuko shot back angrily.

Iroh pointed out to the river where my two cousins and the avatar stood on the boat. "It's no proverb."

The Captain's eyes grew wide. "Bleeding hog-monkeys!" He exclaimed as he took off by land running after his ship. Zuko began to laugh at the Captain's misfortune until he saw his own boat stolen by the pirate crew.

"Hey, that's my boat!" He exclaimed, running the same way the pirate captain ran.

"Maybe it should be a proverb…" Iroh muttered thoughtfully. I rolled my eyes, grabbing onto his elbow before chasing after Zuko.

"Let's go, Iroh!" My lungs burned as I ran along the river bed, trying to keep up with the Prince in front of me. I felt my heart race even faster as I saw the pirate ship that my cousins were on at the edge of the waterfall, just barely staying there. My abs tightened as I attempted to push my body to run faster. We ran until we reached a waterfall, and were forced to stop. My cousins were rammed by the other boat after stopping at the very edge of the fall, pushing it over the edge and knocking all three of them out into the air. Appa, Aang's sky bison, swooped in and caught all of them before they could fall into the water. I sigh out in relief, receiving a glare from Zuko.

"My boat!" Zuko cried out in disbelief, his eyes on the water below the falls. Uncle, who was crouched over trying to catch his breath, finally stood normally.

"Hehe, Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this. The missing lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!" I almost slapped myself in the face as he pulled out the tile from his sleeve with a large grin on his face. Zuko, who was now seething with anger, snatched the tile out of Uncle's hand and threw it hard over the cliff and into the woods. I blinked for a moment before something dawned on me.

"You're going to want me to get that, won't you?" I muttered to Uncle in disbelief. He gave me a small, sly smile.

"If you wouldn't mind…" I sigh harshly. This was going to be a long journey.

**Sorry it took so long for me to update! I had the whole chapter written out, but my other laptop crapped on my and I had to get a whole new computer. So I had to rewrite the entire few chapters I had written out. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Please review, if you would. It really helps me write faster and lets me know what you guys think!**


	13. Chapter 12: The Storm

**Hey kids, I haven't written in a while, I know. Sorry! (: Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter? College has been killing me along with work so I really haven't had much free time. It's sucky, but once I'm graduated I'll have plenty of time for my stories!**

Chapter 12: The Storm

Whiplash. That's what I felt as I stood on the large wooden deck of the fire nation ship. I couldn't quite put my finger on how Zuko felt about me. On one hand, he kissed me. He put his hands on me, something no boy had ever done before. But, on the other hand, he's almost completely ignored me the entire time I've been on the ship with him and Iroh. I couldn't understand any of it, and I had no other person around me to talk about my situation with the prince.

I took a deep breath, enjoying the clear day out on the sea. It was perfectly cool; a small hint of salt permeated my throat as I smiled. The sky was crisp and crystal clear, not a single cloud tainting the perfect aqua colored sky; a perfect day for sailing. Zuko stood on the bow of the ship with a large telescope, scanning the sky in front of us for any sign of Aang's bison while Iroh sniffed the air beside me. How odd.

"There is a storm coming. A big one." Iroh muttered, eyeing the perfectly blue sky above us. Zuko lowered the telescope, turning around to glare.

"You're out of your mind, Uncle. The weather's perfect. There is not a cloud in sight." It was true, the weather was clearer today then I'd seen in a very long time.

"The storm is approaching from the north. I suggest we alter our course and head southwest." He stroked his beard with narrow eyes. I couldn't help but have a feeling Iroh was right.

"We know the Avatar is traveling northward, so we will do the same!" He commanded with a passionate look in his eye.

"Zuko, Iroh is way more experienced than any of us. Maybe you should listen to him." I tried to reason, only to receive a glare.

"Prince Zuko, consider the safety of the crew." Iroh tried again, causing me to nod my head in agreement.

"The safety of the crew doesn't matter!" He snarled at Iroh and me. Zuko's eyebrow went up in concern as a crewmember entered from a door behind us. The Lieutenant had clearly overhead Zuko's remark and was unhappy. Zuko, as he began to realize that the man was upset, began to speak to the Lieutenant, walking up until his face is right in front of the Lieutenant's as he tried to intimidate him. "Finding the Avatar is far more important than any individual's safety." Zuko then stormed off, slamming a hatch to the ship behind him.

"He doesn't mean that, he's just all worked up." Iroh tried to explain to the Lieutenant, who shrugged him off and walked away. I couldn't help but feel a small amount of hurt well up inside me as well. He didn't care about any of our safety, not his crew, his uncle or me. Worst of all, he didn't care about his own safety. It was upsetting that he didn't even seem concerned about his own wellbeing, it wasn't healthy. I glanced at Iroh, who looked troubled.

"Is there really a storm coming, Iroh?" I questioned modestly. He continued to look out over the ocean, staring at the horizon. It took him a few moments to answer.

"Yes, it will be a bad one. I suggest we take what precautions and shelter we can gather up in this short time." I nodded, taking a step back.

"I'll inform the crew." I stated before turning and going down into the bowels of the ship.

* * *

A few hours later a majority of the crew stood on the deck of the ship, staring at the dim, overcast sky above us. It was obvious that Iroh had been right, but so far no one had the courage to tell Zuko off.

"Uh! Looks like your uncle was right about the storm after all." I stand corrected. The Lieutenant Zuko had insulted earlier stepped forward with a cocky smirk on his face. This obviously wouldn't end well.

Iroh shrugged modestly, trying to defuse the situation. "Lucky guess." There was a small smile on my face. Iroh always knew how to make someone laugh in the most impossible situations.

Zuko took a few hot steps forward hotly. "Lieutenant, you'd better learn some respect," He snarled in the man's face, "or I will teach it to you." He then took a few steps away from the Lieutenant across the ship. The man's face twisted slightly in anger.

_Don't do it._ I prayed silently. _Don't anger Zuko anymore than he already is._ Unfortunately he didn't wasn't smart enough to figure that out on his own.

"What do you know about respect? The way you talk to everyone around here, from your hard working crew to your esteemed uncle shows you know nothing about respect." He growled bitterly at the Prince a few yards away. "You don't care about anyone but yourself! Then again, what should I expect from a spoiled prince?" I winced at the last part. Zuko defiantly wasn't going to let that one fly. He stopped in mid-step. Iroh sighed and put his hand over his face, resigning himself to the brewing disaster. By the end of the tirade, Prince Zuko's eyebrow was twitching. He was clearly stung by the accusations and I didn't blame him. He turned and assumed a firebending stance, the Lieutenant followed suit.

"Easy now." Iroh tried again to defuse the situation. Zuko and the Lieutenant's hands crossed at the wrists, indicating that the ritual of combat has begun. When they crossed, the sound of steel on steel filled the air and smoke curled from where they met. Iroh appeared between them and broke their wrists apart before they could make a move against each other. He spoke again, this time much more fiercely. "Enough! We are all a bit tired from being at sea so long. I'm sure after a bowl of noodles everyone will feel much better."

The Prince and the Lieutenant glared at each other a moment longer, then both turned and walked away in opposite directions. "I don't need your help keeping order on my ship." Zuko barked. Iroh placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder, but Zuko rudely shoved him off. Zuko walks to the bow, where it is clear the storm clouds now fill the sky…

I walked off, not wanting to deal with the conflict anymore. Fleeing to my room, I sat down on my bed and sigh, putting my face in my hands. It was defiantly going to be a long night.

A few hours later I awoke with a jolt. The ship was rocking fiercely, causing my heart to pound violently in my chest. Beads of sweat lingered on my forehead and I hastily brushed them away with my hand. "I hate storms." I whispered, feeling tears well up in my eyes. Feeling stupid, I pushed myself up off my bed and opened the door. No one was in sight.

Without warning, the ship churned again even move jaggedly, causing my feet to stumble forward and I collided with the wall. I cried out in pain, feeling a short jolt rush up my arm and then vanish. Exhaling deeply, I jogged unsteadily down the corridor until I reached the door that lead to the deck. Taking a deep breath, I reached up and made my hair was secure before I pushed open the heavy metal door.

Immediately, I was pushed back a few steps by a gush of wind and water that blew into my face. Instinctively, I shielded my face with my arm and forced myself forward into the chaos. Men were running around everywhere, trying to secure everything on the ship and make sure it wouldn't go under. I took a few unsteady steps out further as the ship bucked hard again. My feet slipped out from under me and I felt myself hit the deck just as a huge wave washed up and over us all. There was a crack of lightening that lit up the sky followed by a horrifically loud roar of thunder. My body shivered involuntarily as I wiped the water from my eyes again, squinting to see if I could see any clearer.

A loud crash caused the ship to jolt

A moment later, something dawned on me. _I'm a waterbender!_ My brain screamed. _Don't be such an idiot, bend the water!_ So I did. Using all the concentration I had, I bent the water from the deck back into the ocean. I lifted my hands above my head and created an invisible dome around the ship the keep the rain from falling on us. The ship still rocked hard and I kept my focus on keeping us dry to the crew could do their job better.

I felt another wave push against my force. Don't get me wrong, I'm a great waterbender. But working against nature at its most violent is extremely difficult, even for the most experienced masters and I felt like I'm fighting a hurricane.

I felt myself slip and the water slip through, throwing me off my feet and to the edge of the ship, where I smashed into the side with a loud crack. I terrible pain exploded in my head and I felt my vision go fuzzy.

"Sienna!" I heard someone shout. I turned my head, or at least I thought I did. What was happening? My vision came through for a moment and I saw Zuko's face, stricken with worry. I felt myself being lifted and tried to speak.

"I think it's raining." I whispered, feeling the pounding water on my face again. There was a loud sigh that I assumed was Zuko's. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to fight the darkness that was pushing through.

"Sienna, stay awake!" Zuko commanded roughly. My eyes slowly opened, but just barely. His eyes searched my face worriedly as I gave him a small smile.

"I think I'm ok." I tried to sit up, but he held his hand against my shoulder, keeping me down.

"Stay down." He commanded, standing straight up. I looked at him with a hard expression.

"Fine"

He walked off towards Iroh. "Then we must head directly into the eye of the storm." I heard Iroh's voice after a few moments boom. It was a good idea, I had to admit. And after only a few minutes of sailing (or so it felt like) we had reached calmer waters. Much to my relief by that time I was able to stand.

Stumbling slightly, I made my way over to Iroh and Zuko. "Uncle, I am sorry."

Iroh placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder. "Your apology is accepted." His eyes now found mine. "Are you alright, Sienna?"

I smiled gratefully at him. "Better now, thank you." A bubble of energy erupted from the sea in boiling blue mass in front of the prow of Zuko's ship and rocketed into the air. I looked up in shock to see my cousins and Aang staring down at the ship wide eyed.

I didn't realize I was holding a breath until I reached it when the bison was out of sight. Zuko didn't give any orders to follow, which surprised me greatly. I was grateful though, for now at least Sokka and Katara would be out of harm's way.

Mustering up some strength, I lifted my hands and bended the water from the storm off the deck and back into the ocean. "I'm glad that's over." I muttered under my breath, lifting my hand to my long braid and squeezed the water out of it.

"You look tired, Sienna. Please, go rest." Iroh suggested with a kind smile. I returned it, nodding. A nap sounded like a good idea right about now. I stumbled backwards a few steps before turning around and walking towards the door below. I slammed it behind me with a heavy 'thud' and continued down the hall until I reached the room I shared with Zuko and entered, slamming this door behind me also. Tiredly, I plopped down onto my bed and rolled over, closing my eyes.

I awoke only a second later to a loud banging noise. Jumping up into a sitting position, my eyes were wide with alert until my eyes found Zuko's face.

"You frightened me." I informed him, rolling back over into a sleeping position.

"Sorry" was the only quiet response I received. There was a moment that I ignored him completely before I turned back to face him, still lying down.

"Are you alright?" I asked, knowing that whatever response I would get would either be hostile or non-existent. Zuko kept his face unreadable, tugging his red shirt over his head casually. A blush crept onto my face as I turned away again, facing the ceiling. Why on earth would he do this here and now?

"I'm fine." He told me, typical Zuko to keep his answer that short.

"Alright" I didn't push, closing my eyes and ending the conversation all within a moment. There were a few stirs to my left from time to time, but I didn't hear much.

After what seemed like hours, I opened my eyes and looked over to him. There he was, head rested perfectly on the pillow, one arm folded onto his chest and the other hanging off his bed. His face, which was usually hard and withdrawn, was peaceful. His lip was a small portion open, which caused me to smile. Unable to stop myself, I quietly pushed myself out of bed and put my feet onto the cold, metal floor. I pushed myself off the bed, secured my hair and took a few steps towards Zuko's bed before hesitating.

_He could wake up any second!_ My mind screamed at me. _Oh who cares?_ I asked myself silently, taking another step. Carefully, I made sure I didn't make too much movement as I lowered myself onto Zuko's bed, placing my head onto his shoulder.

As childish as it sounded, I didn't want to be alone. I'd spent the past years since my mother died being alone, doing everything by myself. I just wanted someone to hold me, even if it was only for a moment. Zuko stirred slightly, but didn't wake. Sighing in relief, I relaxed as his hand automatically came up and wrapped itself around me.

Hopefully he didn't freak out too much when he woke up.


	14. Chapter 13: Zuko

**AN: Sorry this was so short! Someone requested I go into Zuko's mind and share a little of what he was thinking. So that's just what I did. Unfortunately there isn't that much to share with this particular scene. But don't worry, there's no way I'll keep you guys hanging for so long again!**

**Normal POV**

Zuko stirred softly, trying to turn over and being unable. Slightly annoyed, he opened his eyes to find Sienna lying in his chest, her head being the reason he was unable to turn over. He looked at her for a long time, trying to decide if she was awake or not.

Sighing irritably he lay back down in the position they had previously been in. Glancing down at Sienna, Zuko noticed how the arch of her back fit perfectly into his chest. Her eyes were closed peacefully and the bright, happy expression she normally held was replaced with a tranquil one. A single strand of hair lay across her eye and held itself on her nose. He stared at it, fighting with himself to remove it so he could see her face more clearly.

Letting out a groan, he closed his eyes and tried to ignore the girl in his arms. He remembered her, drenched from the storm, the water from the waves dripping down her skin. He remembered how she looked in his arms, barely conscious and the fear that overtook him. He'd never felt so out of control in his life. It was unnatural.

Sienna suddenly stirred for a brief second, her eyes fluttering and she turned her body around. "Zuko…" She breathed… wait, had he heard that right? His heart beat faster as he felt her feet brush up against his bare leg. She continued breathing softly a moment later as though nothing had happened.

Zuko, however, was anything but alright. His heart was still hammering away as he stared at the girl with a mixture of confusion, hope, and most of all lust. He could faintly see the outline of her breasts in her night shirt that was too large for her. Her hair hung off her neck in a way that drove him crazy.

Groaning, she shifted again slightly, bringing her body closer to his as she shivered from the night air. _Perhaps the sea water made her sick_ Zuko thought; desperately trying to find a reason as to why she would crawl into bed with him.

One thing was for certain, Sienna would be the death of him.


	15. Chapter 14: The Blue Spirit

Chapter 14: The Blue Spirit

Sometimes I wondered what was going through Zuko's mind. He could stare out at the ocean for what seemed like an eternity with the most pissed off look on his face. Most of the time I just avoided the moody bastard. Abruptly Zuko turned around and examined the map Lieutenant Jee was looking over. I sat next to Uncle while he played Pai Sho with a few of the crew members.

"We haven't been able to pick up the Avatar's trail since the storm." Lieutenant Jee informed Zuko, sliding his finger up the map. "But, if we continue heading northeast-" He stopped talking when a large shadow over casted the room, causing us all to look in its direction. A large firenation ship pulled up alongside us, obviously preparing to board. I gulped as fear rose up in me.

"What do they want?" Zuko bit back unhappily.

"Perhaps a sporting game of Pai Sho!" Uncle called out optimistically.

It'd been a long time since I'd seen Zhao. My father was his commanding officer, even though my father was not that much older than him, back when Zhao was just a young man. My father had always been a kind man to Zhao, knowing he grew up with an alcoholic mother and a dead father. Zhao never had any real structure or security in his life, and my father gave him that.

Who knew he'd grow up to be a crazy monster?

We heard the plank drop between the two ships and footsteps getting closer to the cabin we were in. Three men stepped in, all obviously working with Zhao. One stepped forward, unraveling a scroll that had Aang's picture on it.

"The hunt for the Avatar has been given prime importance." He lowered the scroll to look at all of us. "All information regarding the Avatar must be reported directly to Admiral Zhao."

Uncle took a piece from his game and moved it. "Zhao has been promoted? Well, good for him!" He said, genuinely happy for Zhao.

"I've got nothing to report to Zhao. Now get off my ship and let us pass." Zuko growled sullenly.

The man got a smug smile on his face. "Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area."

"Off my ship!" Zuko yelled, taking an angry step forward towards the men. The three men turned and left without another word.

Iroh suddenly got a large smile on his face. "Excellent!"He leaned over and pulled all the pieces towards him. "I take the pot. But, you're all improving. I'm certain you will win if we play again." He was a sly old man, that's for sure.

Zuko looked sullenly towards the ocean. I stood from my stool and excited the room, not saying a word. I didn't want to deal with Zuko's anger again.

….

A few hours later I was sound asleep in my and Zuko's room when the door quietly opened. I waited a few seconds and then opened one of my eyes. Zuko stood in black pants and a black shirt. His hair was down which never happened. He pulled what looked like a blue mask from a drawer in his dresser and then pulled two swords off the wall.

"What are you doing?" I questioned. He turned, letting out a small gasp. "Sorry!" I apologized, not meaning to scare him. He rolled his eyes but didn't say anything, so I continued. "Where are you going?" My eyes were accusing, and he could tell because his began to narrow.

"I'm crown prince of the Fire Nation, I don't have to tell some water tribe peasant where I do and don't go!" He defended, his gold eyes staring at me with anger and slight annoyance. I huffed childishly and turned around in my bed.

"Just try not to get yourself killed." I muttered before he walked out the door and slammed it shut.

**AN: Sorry about the delay in the update! This chapter was just kind of a filler, please don't hate me! I didn't want to skip it all together yeah I know boring! But don't worry, I'll make the next one REALLY exciting! (: Oh, but speaking of the next chapter. I have finals for college until the 15****th****, so I won't be able to update until after then. I'm sorry, but I really need to do well on them! **


	16. Chapter 15: June the Bounty Hunter

As the ship rocked slowly back and forth I thought of my mother. I pictured her kind, gentle face glowing with happiness as she baked a large artic hen and smiled back at my small figure. She was always a beautiful woman, tall and slender. Her eyes were large and almond shaped the color of the sea on the clearest day. She had a dark complexion, full pink lips and high cheek bones. When she smiled, which she did all the time, it lit up the entire room.

Thinking of my mother brought an overwhelming sense of happiness over me. I hoped to be half the wife and mother she was one day. Watching the water rock back and forth onto the side of the docked ship, I missed home even more.

There was a large noise that made me turn my attention from the ocean. A large, ugly beast leapt onto the ship and was flicking its long tongue around. A cruel looking woman with long, black hair rode the beast, cracking a whip to make it walk forward. "Get back! We're after a stowaway." She commanded the crew.

Zuko appeared from below deck, his voice skewed and angry. "There are no stowaways on my ship." His voice was heavy and defensive. The beast moved a few more feet forward and ripped a large chunk of metal from the floor of the ship, throwing it just over Zuko and Iroh's heads, and crawled partway into the hole. A dirty looking man scampered out of the hole next to the shirshu and ran for his life. Effortlessly, the shirshu flicked its tongue up at the man and hit him lightly, the man fell to the ship completely paralyzed.

"He's paralyzed." Zuko whispered in amazement.

The bounty hunter jumped off the beast and picked the man up, placing t behind her on it. "Only temporarily. The toxins'll wear off in about an hour. But by then he'll be in jail and I'll have my money." She scared me, black hair with dark clothes and a tattoo on her arm. Her face held a smug, uncaring look.

"But how did you find him on my ship?" Zuko pressed suspiciously.

The woman pet the beast affectionately before hopping back into the saddle. "My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away."

"Well, I'm impressed." Iroh muttered, stroking his beard as the woman cracked her whip and vanished. "Very impressed." I shook my head at the whole scene, moving to enter the ship and go to my chambers. I could hear Zuko barking orders behind me about fixing the hole in the deck of the ship. Walking quicker, I decided I didn't want to deal with a moody Zuko right now. Entering my room, I shut my door behind me and flopped down on my bed and sigh, undoing my braid and running my fingers through my long dark hair.

A few moments later there was a soft knock on the door. I stay laying down, not really in the mood to deal with anyone right now. "Go away!" I called out, closing my eyes in an attempt to relax. I heard the door open and I sigh out in annoyance. "Did you not hear me?" I opened my eyes and sat up exasperated. Zuko stood awkwardly in the entrance of my room with his eyes fixed on mine.

"Can I come in?" He asked in a low voice that made me almost shiver. I stood quickly and smoothed my long hair out quickly.

"What can I do for you?" I asked quietly. He took a few more steps in and closed the door slowly. "Zuko?" I asked again, waiting for a response. When he turned I saw his guarded expression and I knew exactly why he was here. A dark desire built up inside me as my eyes travelled from his glowering eyes down to his lips. I knew this was wrong, very wrong, but for whatever reason I didn't want to stop.

He took a few more steps, closing the distance between us while staring forebodingly into my eyes. I could feel my heart beating in my throat, wondering how someone could have such an effect on me from just a look. Zuko grabbed the back of my head forcefully and crushed my lips to his with an earnest, burning passion. I felt myself let out a small groan as he deepened the kiss, his mouth demanding on mine.

Clumsily, my hands grasped at his armor in an attempt to be closer to him. His body stiffened at my touch, but he didn't pull away from me. Our mouths danced for what seemed only a few more moments before I pushed him away.

_What are you doing?_ My mind scolded as I took a step back. "What are we doing?" I whispered softly to him, my voice unsure. Hesitantly, I glanced up at his face. Zuko look a little lost himself, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I don't know." He sounded so unsure of himself, too. I stared for a moment waiting for him to continue talking.

There was a slight confusion that welled up inside me. "I'm your prisoner." My voice was small and uncertain. "We can't keep doing this." I could see the anger on Zuko's face and I shrunk back slightly.

"You think you can tell me what to do?" He sneered, taking another step towards me.

"Stop, Zuko." I said in a small voice, taking a few more steps away from him, my eyes averted to the floor. He took another few steps and I snapped. "**Stop!**" I yelled at him, completely losing my cool. "I am _not _some play thing you can mess with and drop when you're bored!" I could feel my cheeks get wet but I didn't care. "I'm a person, stop messing around with my feelings!" I shoved him out of the way as hard as I could and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind me.

**xXx**

Zuko and I didn't speak until late that night. We were looking for the bounty hunter who had destroyed part of the ship earlier that day. Zuko wanted to find the woman so she could help hunt down the Avatar. We walked into a tavern and Zuko forced a tough looking man to the side. "Out of my way! Step aside, filth!" He snapped at him, pushing his way past more people.

Iroh and I walked cautiously behind him. "He means no offense! I'm sure you bathe regularly." Iroh tried to apologize for Zuko with a weary smile. The bar stank of body odor and strong alcohol. I gaged slightly, keeping close to Iroh and away from the gross men around us.

We reached the table where the bounty hunter sat, arm wrestling a man much larger than herself. The man grunted against her grip while she didn't seem to be having any troubles at all. "I need to talk to you." Zuko's voice was low and dangerous.

She didn't even glance up at us. "Well, if it isn't my new friends, Angry Boy, Quiet Girl, and Uncle Lazy." June swiftly won the arm wrestling match she was in, the man's hand made a loud smack as it hit the table. The crowd watching them erupted into cheers and a large pile of gold was pushed towards her.

"Your beast trashed my ship. You have to pay me back." Zuko demanded hotly.

June smirked at Zuko before teasing him a little. "Aww, I'd love to help you out, but I'm a little short on money." Her eyes darted to the crowed all around her. "Drinks on me!" Again, the men around her cheered loudly.

She raised her cup to her lips when Zuko roughly grabbed her wrist, bringing her face close to his. "Money isn't what I had in mind." My stomach flip flopped in jealousy for a moment before I turned and headed out of the tavern angrily.

When I got outside, I felt my cheeks redden in embarrassment for getting jealous over such a trivial interaction. My stomach knotted up as I replayed Zuko's smoldering look he gave June in my head. I was being stupid and I knew it, but for whatever reason I couldn't help but feel this way. How could Zuko act that way towards another girl in front of me?

A minute or two later Iroh, Zuko, and June joined me outside, still arguing. "I need you to find someone." Zuko commanded at her, holding up Katara's necklace. I growled at him, furious.

"That's my cousin's necklace!" I cried out in anger. "It's an important part of my heritage; you can't use it to hunt my cousin. It's _sacred_."

Zuko looked down at it confused. "It's just a necklace." He dismissed, dangling Katara's necklace in front of his face so he could examine it.

"It is not just a necklace, Prince Zuko." Iroh cut in, stroking his face thoughtfully. "When a man is interested in courting a woman, he carves these necklaces by hand and presents it to her. Of course, he must gain the father's permission first. It is a very old and sacred ritual among waterbenders."

"It was our grandmother's necklace." I could feel my voice strain with stress.

Zuko seemed to have ignored everything Iroh had said. "If you find them, I'll consider the damage to my ship paid for." I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at him. Typical, he always ignored me when we were around other people.

"Heh! Forget it." June laughed, pulling herself up onto the saddle of her beast.

"Plus we'll pay your weight in gold." Iroh added before she could run off. Smirking, she jumped down off the monster and walked over to Iroh with a large smile on her face.

"Make it your weight and we got a deal." _Cocky bitch_ I snarled in my head.

Iroh laughed heartily and nodded his head. "You got it!" June reached over and snatched the necklace from Zuko's hand.

"Get on." She ordered, walking to the front of the beast and sticking the necklace out in front of its nose and letting it take a few sniffs. June then hopped up onto the beast, Zuko and I helped Iroh on behind her. I sat behind Iroh in the saddle and Zuko jumped up behind me. June cracked her whip and the beast took off with us on his back.

**xXx**

After traveling for half a day, we arrived at an herbalist's home. She was absolutely crazy and we carried on after only a few words with her. The Avatar and my cousins of course weren't there, but they had been.

The second place we stopped was a village that seemed to be doing quite well for itself. There were stone roads that lined the streets between the homes and buildings. When we stopped in the town, we ended up in front of a fortune teller's place. The older woman and Iroh exchanged a few interesting, flirtatious words before the beast took them on the path again.

After almost a full day, we were finally nearing my family and Aang. The beast burst through the gates of an Abbey, June told us we were getting close and we headed back off into the woods. I could feel adrenaline pumping through my veins as I thought about what I was going to do when we caught up to my family. I would protect them from Zuko, I knew that for sure. I just wasn't sure **how** I was going to do that without Zuko thinking I was betraying him.

I saw my cousins a moment later, we whipped through the trees and onto the path behind them. They ran as the beast followed closely and they were trapped. "Is this your little girlfriend, angry boy? She's way too pretty for you." June teased.

Zuko, as usual, ignored her sarcastic remarks and jumped down off the shirshu. "Where is he? Where's the Avatar?"

"We split up!" Sokka stated defiantly. "He's long gone."

"How stupid do you think I am?" Zuko sneered at them.

Sokka smirked at the young prince and teased, "Pretty stupid." He glanced at Katara quickly and grabbed her arm. "Run!" Unfortunately they only made it a few feet before the shirshu flicked them with its tongue, paralyzing them. They fell flat on their faces, unmoving.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Zuko questioned to no one in particular. The shirshu started walking towards my family.

"It's seeking a different scent-" June explained. "-perhaps something that the Avatar held." It sniffed around for a few moments and a scroll fell out of Sokka's pack. The beast sniffed it and looked up, towards the trail it was now locked onto. "Got it." June smirked, pleased with herself.

Zuko picked my cousins one at a time, putting them onto the back of the beast and we headed out again on the trail of the Avatar. I couldn't help but worry, but I knew Katara and Sokka weren't hurt. After only a minute or two of riding, we burst back through the Abbey's gates that were now standing again. The shirshu sniffed around a bit before walking around in circles.

"What's it doing? It's just going around in a circle!" Zuko exclaimed in frustration. That's when the Avatar showed up. He flew right above our heads and the shirshu jumped up in attempts to his Aang with his tongue. The beast jumped to high he flung all of us off his back, we landed hard onto the concrete just behind him.

"Aang!" Katara exclaimed happily.

June whipped the beast again. "Up!" She ordered and jumped back into the saddle. I took the opportunity to grab Katara while two of the women who lived at the Abbey grabbed Sokka. We dragged the two paralyzed teens across the court yard to one of the outside walls. I silently hoped they would be safe there as I stood to watch the battle.

Zuko was fierce in his fire bending, but Aang was quick also. In a heated blow, the Avatar and Zuko hit at exactly the right angle and caused an explosion, sending them flying into roofs on opposite sides of the courtyard. I grimaced as Zuko slowly got to his feet, fearing he was injured. He jumped across the roofs and headed towards where the Avatar landed, fire streaming from his hands. They engaged again and this time Aang had the upper hand, sending Zuko flying off the roof.

"I'm starting to get some feeling back!" I glanced at him just in time to see some pieces of the roof above us fall onto him. "Ouch." He muttered.  
Zuko went for Aang again around the well, blasting time after time. With each blast Aang avoided his blows and sent air back. I watched in amazement as Aang grabbed the necklace and dove into the well they were fighting around. Zuko jumped up and sent a fireball in after him. A moment later, Zuko was sent flying into the air from some well water and landed hard a few feet away.

One of the sisters brought out some weird perfume and made my cousins sniff it. They immediately felt better and stood up straighter afterwards.

"That thing sees with its nose. Let's give him something to look at." Leave it to Sokka to always have a plan.

"The perfume?" The superior questioned, and Sokka nodded. I think she was secretly impressed with his plan. Rushing back inside several sisters brought out large pots filled with different perfumes. Katara and I stood in front of it, and when they dumped it all out we bent the liquids into a tidal wave over our heads and all over the beast that was attacking Aang. The beast immediately began to panic, hitting Zuko with his tongue and then throwing June off his back. He hit June next and Iroh, being the old pervert he was, jumped out to catch her fall.

I rushed over, worried that Iroh or Zuko was hurt. "Are you guys ok?" I breathed. Zuko said nothing, and Iroh winked at me, holding June a little closer and closed his eyes. Smiling softly, I turned back to my cousins and ran over to the bison. "Are you ok, Aang?" He grinned up at me with his goofy smile.

"Of course I am!" I smiled back at him. "Are you coming with us this time?"

I shook my head no, "I'm going to take my chances with Zuko." I explained. Sokka shook his head at me.

"I will never understand you, Sienna." He muttered. "The guy is crazy, and dangerous. Why would you willingly stay with someone like that?"

"He's not all bad." I glanced back at the three motionless people on the ground. "Maybe someday he'll show you that side of him."

Sokka's expression fell. "I seriously doubt that." He retorted deadpanned. I couldn't help but laugh, Sokka always amused me.

"Take care of yourselves, I'm sure I'll see you guys soon enough." I grinned before turning around and walking back towards Iroh and Zuko.

"Take care of yourself, Si." Sokka called out to me before they hopped onto the bison and took off into the sky.

I could see Zuko was starting to move, just barely though. "Easy there, hot shot." I told him, bending down to help him up. Irritation was evident on his face and in his eyes, making my stomach twist in sadness.

"I don't need your help!" He snapped harshly, attempting to pull his arm away from my grasp.

"_Fine_." I snapped in frustration, letting go of his arm and allowing him to fall roughly to the concrete below us. Turning, I walked away from the prince and out the Abbey gates on foot back towards the ship.

**A/N: Gah, I'm so sorry this took so long to update! There were so many things that contributed to that. College, broken computer, writers block. I promise it won't take so long for the next one! :) Please don't hate me! **


	17. Chapter 16: Close Calls

Zuko and I weren't speaking at all. To be completely honest, I'm not sure I minded all that much. I couldn't be his play thing anymore, I was kidding myself if I thought it was ever going to me any more than that. Huffing bitterly, I fell back onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling, grateful I had finally gotten my own room on the ship. I was surprised Zuko hadn't ordered me to sleep in the cells, I _was_ a prisoner after all.

I had never seen Zuko as a complicated person. To me, he'd always been a boy who was confused. He just wanted his father to love him, and even if he caught the Avatar I seriously doubted that would happen. I knew that boy that I had grown up was somewhere inside Zuko. When I looked at him, I remembered his mother. She was gentle and kind, and when I looked at Zuko I saw that inside him as well. Seeing him act like his father at times was harder to watch than I imagined.

Sitting up in bed, I grabbed my hair and pulled it off to the side, twisting it quickly into a tight braid and let it hang down my chest and hang by my waist. My black hair was the only reminder I really had of my father. In every other aspect my mother was in me. My eyes were a cold, grey-blue and my skin was dark like the waterbending tribes normally were.

There was a sharp knock at my door and I jumped up. "Yes?" I answered stiffly, hoping it wasn't Zuko. We hadn't really spoken in the past two weeks.

The door swung open and Iroh stood on the other side. "Admiral Zhao requests an audience with you." I could see on his face that this was going to be bad. There was no hiding the surprise on my face as my mind reeled as to why Zhao would be on the ship. It made no sense in my head, so I decided to see him for myself. Nodding, I made sure my hair was secured and followed after him. As we walked down the hallway of the ship I felt a shiver run down my spine. Whatever was going on it was defiantly not good.

Iroh lead me to Zuko's chambers and opened the door, ushering me inside. "Wait here, Sienna. I'll be back in a moment." He turned and left, closing the door behind him. The air was instantly filled with a heavy, uncomfortable sensation and filled the room like poison.

"So, what does Zhao want?" I muttered, my eyes towards my feet and my hands pulling at the end of my braid. I could feel the tension in the room grow as Zuko remained quiet for another few moments.

"No idea." He sneered back and I looked up. Zuko was wearing a cutoff shirt that showed off his muscular arms, causing me to blush. His face was filled with rage and I understood why. Zhao could be a real pain in his butt. "But I'm going to find out."

He was only able to take a step forward before the door swung open and Zhao stepped through the door. "I'm taking your crew." Iroh stepped in behind him with a solemn look on his face.

"WHAT!?" I could hear the surprise in Zuko's voice and I took a few steps to stand next to him with my arms crossed.

"I've recruited them for a little expedition to the North Pole." I felt my blood run cold, what "little expedition" could Zhao have in the North Pole?

Zuko turned to Iroh for guidance. "Uncle, is that true?"

"I'm afraid so. He's taking everyone." He put his arms over his face in distress. "Even the cook…"

It was my turn to say something. "What kind of business do you have with the Water Tribe?" He smirked sadistically, looking me over.

"Ah, Sienna, I haven't forgotten about you." He reached over, pulling on my arm and dragging me towards him. "We could use your insight on our mission." His large hands were rough as he pulled me against his chest to prevent me from pulling away. Before I got a chance to respond, Zuko grabbed at my other arm and pulled me forcefully back towards him.

"Over my dead body!" He hissed, putting himself between Zhao and me. Zhao smirked, turning to leave when something caught his eye. He walked over to the wall where Zuko's broadswords were hung on the wall. Zuko's body went rigid as Zhao picked one up and inspected it.

"I didn't know you were skilled with broadswords, Prince Zuko." He murmured, almost as though he was talking to himself. He placed his hand on the side of the blade and ran it down the cold metal before swinging it a few times.

"I'm not. They're antiques. Just decorative."

"Have you heard of the Blue Spirit, General Iroh?" Zhao turned around to face Iroh when he asked his question.

"Just rumors. I don't think he is real." Iroh defended softly.

"He's real all right. He's a criminal, an enemy of the Fire Nation." Zhao took a few steps and handed the sword to Iroh. "But I have a feeling that justice will catch up with him soon. General Iroh, Sienna, the offer to join my mission still stands if you change your mind." He walked out the door, slamming it closed.

A few hours later, I stood nervously outside of Zuko's room. Rising my slowly, I hesitated at knocking. My mind had been reeling at what Zuko had said to Zhao. "Over my dead body" rang through my head over and over. What did that mean though?

After a minute or so I finally knocked softly at the metal door. Hearing Zuko say something from inside, I pushed the door open and peeked my head in. Zuko was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling, obviously sulking.

"Prince Zuko?" He gave no reply. "The crew wanted to wish you safe travels."

"Good riddance to those traitors!" He snarled hatefully. I smiled sympathetically, knowing he felt betrayed.

"You know, it's a beautiful night, Iroh and I were just about to go for a stroll." I took a step into the room, leaning up against the door. "Would you like to join us?" Zuko rolled over, turning his back towards me and said nothing. I sigh, slightly frustrated. "Or you can just sit in your room by yourself. You know, this is your problem, you push everyone away Zuko. Even the people who love you." I turned and walked out, shutting the door quietly behind me.

After I navigated the halls, I met Iroh up on the deck of the ship. "Zuko isn't coming?" I laughed at the question.

"Does that really surprise you?"

"I guess not." He offered up his arm and I took it, and we began our stroll. "So tell me Sienna, what seems to be going on between you and my nephew?"

I immediately flushed at the question. "What do you mean?" It was a clear night, there wasn't a cloud in sight. I wished silently that Zuko was here with us.

"I've been around a long time, Sienna. Don't think that I don't see what goes on." He grinned at me and rolled my eyes. I stayed silent for a minute, not knowing exactly what to say.

"There isn't anything going on, Iroh, really." I sigh, trying not to sound bitter. We were fairly far from the ship now, I wondered how long we'd be walking.

Iroh smiled at me empathetically. "Zuko is a complicated person, but he will come around. You'll see." I opened my mouth to speak when we heard a giant explosion behind us. I turned quickly and spotted the ship was on fire.

"Zuko!" I cried out, pushing off and racing in that direction. _Please be alive._ I pleaded silently as I ran faster, feeling a burn in my lungs. I couldn't lose Zuko, it would kill me.

By the time I reached the docks the ship was already engulfed in flames and starting to sink. "ZUKO!" I screamed, my eyes scanning the water desperately for him. Finally, I just jumped into the water, spotting a dark figure that looked like a body. I swam hard over to it and flipped it over, it was Zuko! I grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him to shore, it was much easier since I could bend the water and push us forward.

When we got there, I placed my ear to his chest and heard breath. He was unconscious and his face was badly burnt and bruised. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently, sobbing out his name and begging him to wake up. After a few more shakes, he coughed violently and opened his eyes. More tears came and I smiled, extremely relieved he was conscious. "Don't do that to me ever again." I cried, not being able to catch my breath.

A small smile broke out on Zuko's face. "Worried about me?" I nodded, putting my head down and tried to control my breathing.

"I thought you were dead." I admitted, finally sounding somewhat normal. "I saw the explosion and I thought.." I felt nauseous at the thought of Zuko dying.

"I'm fine." He grimaced as he tried to sit up. I helped him up and removed his shirt, feeling a slow blush creep up over my face. His toned chest was covered in burns and bruises. Putting my hands in to the water next to us, we both watched as they began to glow. I moved them over the areas that had gotten hurt and they immediately healed when I touched them.

"Close your eyes." I whispered and he obeyed without hesitation. Placing my hands on his face, I healed the majority of the bruises on his face. Letting the water fall from my hands, I sat back and studied my work.

"Thank you." He told me as he grabbed his shirt and I helped him put it back on.

"Are you sure you're alright?" I couldn't help but ask again. He nodded and I smiled, counting my lucky stars. He opened his mouth to tell me something when Iroh approached, huffing from his run.

"Are you alright, Prince Zuko?" I silently cursed Iroh for interrupting the only normal conversation we had in weeks.

**A/N: I know this chapter wasn't really long, I'm sorry! Please rate and review! Its much appreciated! :)**


	18. Chapter 17: The Siege of the North Pole

Chapter 17: The Siege of the North Pole (Part 1)

I stayed hidden as a fire nation soldier on Zhao's ship. Iroh had suggested I just take Zhao up on his offer to consult him about the layout of the Northern Water Tribe, but there was no way I would help him destroy my people. As much as I wanted to be there with Iroh, there was no way I would help that monster with his mission.

It'd been 4 days now I was pretending to be a fire nation soldier. Zuko and I had met up a few times to discuss our plan for once we left the ship. Tonight was the night, I knew we could do this but I was still nervous as all hell. I didn't know how we would pull this off. After we snuck off the boat, we would not only have to sneak past all the lookouts on the main wall, we'd also have to find a way to break in, which would _not_ be easy. To be completely honest, I didn't think Zuko's plan would work. Not that I didn't have faith in Zuko, but I wasn't sure how we would make it to the walls undetected by the fire nation ships _and_ the look outs that were guarding the walls.

I slipped into the empty cargo room behind Zuko that held the row boat we would escape the ship on. A few steps into the room, he spun around to me. "I'm doing this alone." I opened my mouth to protest but he cut me off. "No, Sienna, don't argue." I felt my throat tighten up and my stomach clench violently in anger.

"You might need backup, I'm a waterbender." I knew arguing with him was stupid and usually pointless, but I didn't want him to be alone trying to sneak into the strongest of my peoples' tribes. "Please Zuko, I can take care of myself." He walked over to the small boat and began to get it ready to be lowered.

Iroh barged into the room, shutting the door behind him. He glanced between us. " If you're fishing for an octopus, my nephew, you need a tightly woven net or he will squeeze through the tiniest hole and escape."

"I don't need your wisdom right now, Uncle." Zuko snapped at him irritably. A look crept onto Iroh's face that I had never seen before. It just about broke my heart.

"I'm sorry, I just nag you because, well, ever since I lost my son..." He looked away, pain etched into the lines on his face.

"Uncle, you don't have to say it." Zuko mumbled.

"I think of you as my own." Iroh looked over to me next. "You too, Sienna." Tears pooled in my eyes and I closed the gap between us, hugging him tightly.

"I love you too, Iroh." I released the man and he looked to Zuko.

"We'll meet again…" Iroh rushed over and enveloped Zuko in a hug. I moved silently over into the canoe and climbed in, Zuko got in behind me. "… after I captured the Avatar." We slowly began to lower the rickety boat into the cold artic water below.

"Remember your Breathe of Fire! It could save your life out there!" Iroh called from above us.

"I will." Zuko called back to him.

"And put your hoods up, keep your ears warm!"

I smiled back up, lifting my head to look at him. "We'll be fine, Iroh. Don't worry about us!"

Silently, we both took a paddle and began to row slowly through the icy waters away from the ship. As we got closer to the wall I worried we would be spotted by the lookouts.

"Faster" Zuko mumbled, and I picked up my speed trying my best to be quiet. I held my breath as we paddled out into the open where we could be seen from the wall. Panicking slightly, I ducked my head down and paddled harder. We glided past the slight of the wall and near an embankment of ice. I spotted a few sea turtles disappearing into a hole in the ice nearby. I nudged Zuko's leg and pointed to what I saw. He nodded once and we paddled over to that spot. We got the boat near the ice and got out, dragging the boat next to us.

" They're coming up for air somewhere..." Zuko mumbled as he examined the hole. He looked over to me and I shrugged. Taking a deep breath I jumped into the icy water below us. Knives felt like they were stabbing me everywhere. I opened my eyes and began to swim after the turtles in front of me. The salt water burned my eyes but I pushed forward. I saw Zuko swimming next to me and I bended a bubble of air around his head, using my legs and left arm to try and keep up with the turtle seals.

Luckily we didn't have to swim that long, the turtles disappeared to the surface and Zuko followed them. I gasped for air the moment I broke the surface, scrambling out of the icy water and shivering violently. Zuko lay next to me, breathing fire out of his mouth in an attempt to warm himself. I lifted my arm and bended the water off him to dry him instantly. I rolled over onto my back and took a deep breath to try and stop hyperventilating.

"Are you alright?" Zuko questioned crawling over to me. I lifted my head and arm, bending the water away from my skin and clothes. A second later I felt his hand on mine, burning hot. Flinching, I drew away, and shivered again.

"I'm fine, Zuko." A few of the turtle seals barked noisily at us as we stood awkwardly. Zuko and I pushed past them.

"Be quiet!" Zuko barked at one in particular, and they all seemed to shut up. I couldn't help but let out a small giggle as Zuko continued to lead us on. Zuko and I stumbled through a narrow tunnel which lead to a small pool of water. Gulping, I watched as Zuko jumped into the icy sea and I quickly followed.

_What the hell am I doing?_ I questioned silently as the heavy weight of the freezing water made me swim slowly. Zuko and I swam for what felt like forever, I could feel it getting hard to breathe. Zuko spotted what looked like an opening in the ice. We both swam toward it fast and I realized it was only a thin sheet of colored ice. Zuko suddenly released the breath he was holding and I felt my chest squeeze. I quickly bent the ice away, creating a large enough hole so that we could swim up through it.

I gasped for air the second we broke the surface, pulling myself up over onto the ice and made enough room so Zuko could follow me. I bent the water off him the second he pulled himself out of the water.

"Thanks" He mumbled, standing up and squeezing his long hair out. I smiled as I stood and bent the water off of myself.

"What now?" I asked, glancing down both ways of the narrow ice tunnel.

Zuko had a determined look on his face. "We go capture the Avatar."

"Just admit that you're lost." I deadpanned, crouched and running behind Zuko. He let out what sounded like a growl, though I couldn't be sure.

"I'm not lost, I just have no idea where he'd be."

"Probably in the oasis, the spiritual hub of this place." I mumbled, trying to remember how to get there.

"What are you talking about?" He stopped running abruptly and I almost crashed into him.

"Just follow me."

" Is he okay?" I heard a voice ask. Zuko put his finger up to his lip and motioned for me to stay hidden.

"He's crossing into the Spirit World. He'll be fine as long as we don't move his body. That's his way back to the physical world." I heard Katara say to someone.

"Maybe we should get some help?"

"No, he's my friend. I'm perfectly capable of protecting him." _Typical Katara_ I couldn't help but smirk.

"Well, aren't you a big girl now?" Zuko stepped out from the shadows with a smug look on his face. I could see Katara's expression fall when she spotted him.

"No.."

"Yes! Hand him over, and I won't have to hurt you." I stepped out from behind him, glaring.

"We're not hurting anyone." I argued. Katara wasted no time getting into her stance and sending an attack our way. I quickly defended, flicking the water off to the side. "We can talk about this!" Zuko pushed me out of the way and send a huge ball of fire at Katara. She quickly defended herself and went on the attack. Katara shot a wall of water at him, knocking him to the ground.

"I see you've learned a new trick. But I didn't come this far to lose to you." Zuko taunted. I could feel my heart twist.

"Enough, please!" They ignored me though, and I wasn't really all that surprised. Zuko fired another blast which Katara blocked. Katara then launched another stream of water at him, hurling him backwards again. Zuko just barely was able to keep his balance, but Katara froze the water beneath him, trapping his feet in the ice. Then, with a massive output of effort, Katara raised a churning sphere of water from the main pool behind Zuko, encasing him in it, and freezing him entirely.

"Don't hurt him!" I cried out, raising my hand to release him from the icy prison when I saw him start to move inside.

"You little peasant. You've found a master, haven't you?" His voice was muffled but it was still easy to make out what he had said.

The ice shattered around Zuko and he landed on his feet. Zuko got behind Katara and almost grabbed Aang's collar, but Katara blasted him out of the way with a jet of water. He got blown over to the right ledge. While he trieed to recover, Katara raised a huge wave of water that elevated him to ten or so feet up the wall. She froze him in place once again.

I felt it before I saw it, the rays of sunshine bringing warmth to the my skin and made me flinch. This wouldn't be pretty. Zuko's head drooped in defeat. As the sunlight reached him, though, his head snapped up with a look of determination. He let out some steam from his mouth, melting the ice holding him in place. As he was released, he charged at Katara, firing a huge blast of fire towards her. Katara, caught off guard while she walking back to Aang, blocked it only partially. She was thrown back into the post of the paifang gate and was knocked out.

I felt my blood pump harder through my veins as I rushed over to my cousin's side stunned. I didn't expect Zuko to actually harm her. "What the hell, Zuko!?" I cried out, dropping to her side. She didn't seem to be that hurt, I flipped her off her side onto her back. Tears leaked down my cheeks as I touched her face, her eyes were still closed. I could hear Zuko approaching me from behind and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying desperately to contain my emotions.

"Sienna…"

"Get away from us!" I snarled, raising some water out of the spring next to us and hitting him hard in the chest with it. "Just go.." My voice cracked as I continued to cry softly. He was an ass, and I didn't know why I continued to defend him to everyone around us. Maybe he wasn't redeemable, I was just kidding myself.

I could hear him walking away, taking Aang with him. Holding Katara's head in my lap, I continued to cry even harder.

**A/N: Sorry this took me so long to update! I have one more chapter in this book before I'll be moving on to the next one! I'm a little discouraged by the lack of interest in the story though. Blah, hopefully after this upcoming chapter I'll spark some new interest. **


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